


Lost in Translation

by Procrastination_Sensation



Series: Demon of Truth Verse [1]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Demon of Truth Shinichi, Fem!Shin, Genderfluid Shinichi, Magical Contracts, Other, Sorcerer Kaito, Time Skips, creepy Akako, oh Shinichi's a girl for most of it which is why it's not marked as m/m
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 03:26:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14299752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Procrastination_Sensation/pseuds/Procrastination_Sensation
Summary: The problem with falling in love with Shinichi is that it's too easy- too comfortable.How will Kaito ever be able to keep going when the contract is fulfilled and she's free to go?(He doesn't know.)





	Lost in Translation

“Okay, Kuroba,” he says, staring down at the inscriptions he’s marked into the ground. He takes in a deep breath, then reassures, “It’s just a goal-based contractual bond that will dissolve once you get Snake. No big deal. You got this.”

(He doesn’t. Does he?)

(He moves forward anyway.)

He recites the incantation he’s long-since memorized, ignoring the way the summoning flames rise higher and change color, ignoring everything but the words tumbling out of his mouth and the way he feels _eyes_ on him. The flames burn themselves out, plunging the room in darkness in response to his finishing the spell, but not a moment later the inscriptions glow bright blue, a bright flash illuminating a figure that has appeared in the center. The glow fades as the figure solidifies.

Not betraying how nervous he feels, Kaito silently casts a minor illumination spell, and the torches along the wall flare back to normal, orange light.

From what he remembers of the spell, he knows the demon will not be able to respond unless directly addressed until it is released from the circle, so he takes the chance to examine the creature. It appears to have taken a male form, remarkably similar to Kaito in looks, actually, though it’s hair is smooth but for two specific points and features slightly sharper. It wears a crisp suit that's entirely white but for the vest underneath, which is a stark black, and it’s tie that's dove grey. And like all demons it’s unreasonably attractive, eyes a darker blue than his own, sharp and curious. Wary. It’s waiting, he realizes.

Kaito licks his lips, then pulls up the memory of the pronunciation of the follow-up spell that will form the binding that will keep the demon at his side for the time necessary. The contract, in other words. Usually both parties get a say in the conditions of a contract, but everyone knows that demons become very manipulative when given a word in edgewise regarding it, so the less they have a hand in it the better. Honestly though, he doesn’t know exactly what he’s saying, since it’s all in the Ancient Tongue, and it's not very easy to find someone that knows it, nowadays. Harder still to find someone that will deem you worthy of a requested translation.

He wishes he’d been able to get a hold of Hakuba before doing this though, considering he is one of the few. Then he’d know why the demon reacts so strongly, interrupting when he barely finishes the first line out of ten. It’s a single syllable, something that tastes like an incredulous, “Wait, what?”, it’s eyes widening an astonishing amount before it snaps it’s head down to inspect the spell it stands in. It’s two lines later that Kaito sees the being’s body stiffen, looking up to find his eyes with it’s own as he recites the fourth line. It shouts more than says another word, face twisting in fury, but Kaito just starts staring past it as he continues on, not wanting to know what will happen if he falters.

Which is how Kaito reads the sixth through tenth lines, avoiding looking at it as it rallies at the barrier, yelling what could be insults, even physically beating at the restraining circle. Kaito thinks he sees it hurl a fireball or something at it but he determinedly finishes the last line instead of focusing on that. Once he’s said the final line, refusing to let his voice shake, a ring of bluish-purple appears at neck-height along the perimeter of the circle which the demon eyes warily. Kaito watches it wrap a hand around it’s own throat, as if in protection.

Which leads to the last step of the spell, and Kaito clears his throat, the other’s eyes snapping to his own in _loathing_. “ **What is your name?** ” he asks in the Ancient Tongue, because that and the next bit is basically all he knows in it.

The loathing somehow manages to strengthen as Kaito watches it’s jaw work, teeth grinding, before it spits out, “ **Shinichi.** ”

Kaito nods, then replies with, “ **It is a pleasure to meet you, Shinichi. I am Kuroba Kaito.** ”

Apparently taking that as a cue for something, the demon’s- Shinichi’s eyes jerk back to the blue-purple circle in horror. In a flash of light Kaito knows why, observing in fascination as it shrinks inward to become a tattoo not unlike a collar that wraps around the- _Shinichi’s_ neck, forming under it’s hand. Then Kaito watches, stunned, as Shinichi’s hair lengthens drastically, cascading down it’s back to hang around the demon’s hips, chest filling out, then between one blink and the next it’s clothes have changed from a suit to a shimmering white backless dress, clinging gloves the same color as it’s tie had been reaching to it’s biceps, a fashionable black cape tied around the shoulders reaching to it’s waist.

Kaito wonders why the demon has suddenly decided to switch genders as it’s eyes rise to glower at him, lips pursed. Shinichi tightens it’s hold on it’s throat, it's fingernails now long and ovular, but it is still trapped in the circle, so it says nothing as it’s gaze bores into Kaito’s own.

“Right,” Kaito says. “Do you understand Common Tongue?”

It’s eyes flash, but it clips out, “Yes.” Because no matter how angry it is with Kaito, it is obligated to answer. It’s voice as a female is slightly higher than it had been as a male. Kaito frowns: this ‘it’ business is wearing thin.

“Are you female?” He asks, “Or male?”

He receives a scathing look, a pointed glance downward at itself, before it states, “Female.”

“Right,” Kaito repeats, marginally uncomfortable, then shifts his weight as he sees the demon reading that, internally wincing. “You’re a Demon of Truth, correct?” This time he doesn’t get an immediate reply, and he watches the demon actually falter slightly at that, her head tilting as she considers the question. Kaito sweats a bit as the other mouths ‘Demon of Truth’ to herself, because he does _not_ want to consider the possibility that he’s bound the wrong kind of creature to himself. Finally the demon grimaces, mutters something in Ancient, then her eyes find Kaito’s as she intones, “Yes.”

Even though he tries to hide it, Kaito knows the other somehow reads the relief that rushes through him at that. He winces, then explains, “I’m trying to find my father’s killer.” Shinichi’s eyes sharpen at that, her eyes piercing, but she says nothing so Kaito continues, “But I know that even if I _can_ catch the killer, he won’t admit to it. So when that time comes, I’ll need you to compel the truth from him.” Shinichi’s eyes flatten in stark disbelief at this, staring at him as if he must be joking. Kaito’s not, though, and Shinichi must read that in his face.

“That,” the demon states in reply, “is what you have done this for.” It’s not _precisely_ a question, which is why she can ask it anyway, since the circle’s also supposed to stop what it contains from asking questions without a prompt.

Kaito still feels slightly guilty for trapping the demon like this (though he knows he really shouldn’t- it’s just that Shinichi doesn’t seem anything like any of the other demons he’s seen summoned), so he answers the question anyway, a simple “Yes,” sufficing.

Shinichi says something else in Ancient, but she says it in the same tone as the previous not-question, obviously wanting an answer. “Sorry?” Kaito asks, shifting his weight again, “What was that? I don’t know what that is.” Shinichi stares at him, mouth pressed into a tight line, then swings her gaze to the right as she mouths words to herself, eyes narrowing.

She grimaces again, irritated, then clarifies, “You have formed a _bond_ between us for this.” Kaito simply nods, and Shinichi’s face sours in response. She says nothing more to that, simply jerking her head in acknowledgement.

Kaito clears his throat, then lays down the rules: “Okay so first: you may not attack me in any way, shape, or form. You also may not somehow incite an attack on me to be done by someone else.” Shinichi doesn’t react to that in anyway, simply watching him, so Kaito continues, “Two: You must follow any command I give. If I order you to do something, you do it.” The only response he gets out of that is Shinichi crossing her arms and widening her stance almost defensively, but Kaito finishes with, “And lastly: you are not allowed to compel me to reveal information I have not offered.” Shinichi looks almost affronted at that, as if insulted Kaito would suspect her of doing such a thing, but Kaito’s seen demons doing things exactly like that and more and holds firm.

A handful of moments pass between them: Shinichi watching Kaito with a scowl on her face and her arms still crossed, and Kaito simply standing there, not showing how nervous he’s getting as the time goes. Finally Shinichi breaks the silence by scoffing, then snaps, “Understood.”

~

“Aoko!” Kaito’s call makes her look up, and she smiles in response to his excitement, shoving the things she’d had on the seat next to her into her bag. Kaito plunks himself down in the now-open seat, ignores the other handful of students already waiting for the class that won’t start for another half-hour, and blurts, “Guess what?”

She blinks, then asks, “What?” Kaito almost wants to insist she actually guess, but he got punched the last time he did and this is too awesome to just keep quiet about.

He nearly bounces in his seat as he hints, “Guess who managed to summon a demon last night?” Aoko’s eyes widen at that, an impressed look settling on her face.

“Kaito, that’s amazing! That’s some really advanced magic!”

Prideful, Kaito smirks, self-satisfied as he says cheerfully, “It wasn’t even that hard, honestly.”

Aoko scans the room before a furrow appears between her eyebrows, and she leans in to ask, “Where is it? Is it invisible?”

“What? No! She wanted to stay at home.” Kaito remembers the way Shinichi had prowled around his house when given free-reign, apparently taking stock of everything in it, and how she had scowled upon seeing the contents of Kaito’s refrigerator. Kaito winces, then admits, “Actually, she just said she didn’t want to come with me to school. I think she’s going to go shopping. I’m… kind of out of food at the moment.”

“Like you always are, I’m sure,” Aoko says drily, then a worried look passes over her face as she adds, “Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave it alone in your house, Kaito? What if-”

“It’s good,” he assures her, waving a hand through the air. “I made sure to forbid her from causing any property damage and all the fun stuff.”

“Did... _she_ … fight the command? At all?”

“No, actually,” Kaito admits, remembering her distinctly odd reaction. “She just huffed at me.”

Aoko opens her mouth to continue asking questions, but a different female breaks in, purring, “Well well _well_ , what do we have here?” A fingernail traces its way up the nape of his neck and Kaito shudders at the feel of the black energy emanating from-

“Koizumi,” he acknowledges, swinging around and reaching up to protect his neck from any more _stroking_. “What do _you_ want?” Because he’d made it very clear that he was not interested in joining her cult the moment she’d made a pass at him two months ago, and she’s kept her distance since. Her red lips quirk in amusement, head tilting just the slightest, as she lets her nail draw its way back to her by scraping lightly against the table in front of him.

“Someone’s caught himself a little kitten,” she observes, her red irises swirling black as her magic surges to the forefront. “I almost pity the poor thing, tricked and shackled to a place so far below it’s station that it’s _amusing_. Bring it around sometime: I’d _love_ to play with it.” Before Kaito can respond she withdraws fully, her exit punctuated by ringing cackles.

“That was weird,” Aoko mutters, sounding unsettled, and Kaito scrubs at his neck in a futile attempt to rub off her lingering touch. He knows it’s fruitless- it’ll stick around for a couple days yet simply because her magic is so _clingy_.  

“Weird,” Kaito echoes dryly. “More like _creepy_.”

“What did she mean by tricked?” Aoko asks, and Kaito does a half shrug.

“The spell I used was basically a summons, and then I formed the contract between us before she could try to manipulate the conditions, so maybe that.”

Aoko hums, then prods, “Below it’s station?” Kaito turns to frown back at her in answering confusion.

“I don’t actually know,” he admits. “Maybe the one I summoned is a pretty high rank? Who knows.”

Aoko looks perturbed by that before appearing to shake it off, answering with, “I’ll ask Saguru. Maybe he’ll know. Anyway, did you understand number six on last night’s homework?”

~

“I’m back,” Kaito calls as he drops his bag next to the door, then stops and wonders if Shinichi’s even back.

The question is answered immediately as her head pops out of the doorway leading to the kitchen, intoning a neutral, “Welcome back,” before withdrawing back into the kitchen. Kaito blinks at that, then makes his way over out of curiosity, setting down his other bags next to the couch. He rounds the corner to see she’s cooking-

“F-!” he vocalizes in panic, and scrambles backwards to get out of sight, pressing his back against an adjacent wall. He distantly registers the sound of the stove turning off but it’s a couple of seconds later that Shinichi comes out of the kitchen to stare at him, perplexed.

Her sharp eyes are calculating as she slowly pieces together the words, “May I ask what the problem is?” It gives him the option to say no and leave it at that, for which Kaito is unerringly grateful, but if she’s going to be living in the same house as him for more than a month, she should probably know.

“I-” he tries, but his throat is closing up, not letting him utter the dreaded word.

He watches her glance back over her shoulder, lips tilted consideringly, before she turns back to him and asks, “The fish?” He instinctively flinches, then nods unnecessarily. She looks almost concerned as she bites her bottom lip lightly, examining him carefully, then bows her head, “My apologies. I was unaware. I will get rid of them immediately.” The hem of her white dress brushes against his leg as she strides back into the kitchen. Kaito hears a horrific crunching noise that he does _not_ want explained before she strides back into view, hesitates, then asks, “What would you like for dinner, then?”

He gawks at her, almost speechless as she stands in the doorway to the kitchen, still wearing the dress/gloves/cape combo. She stares back, waiting. His jaw clicks a couple of times before he manages, “You know, you don’t have to make dinner. You don’t have to- do that. For me.” Shinichi blinks at him, nonplussed, then tosses her head, her hair flying back so her neck is exposed, and the blue-purple collar of spells contrasts with the almost golden hue of her skin. She raises her eyebrow at him, as if that’s an answer. “I-” he says, a little helplessly, and she raises her chin imperiously at him, “what else did you get?”

~

Kaito’s eating the chicken fried rice Shinichi made for him, swallowing uncomfortably, before looking up to meet the piercing blue eyes that are watching him. He asks weakly, “Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

She simply shakes her head at him, assuring, “I have already eaten.”

He winces a little, stabbing at a piece of chicken before saying, “Do you always speak so formally? Can’t you… not?” She watches as the piece of chicken makes it’s way from his fork to his mouth, almost seeming fascinated by the process, and he has a hard time trying to chew.

“I will attempt to be less formal, if it is what you wish.”

“Yeah…” Silence but for the sounds of Kaito eating returns, and he suddenly wishes that she would do something besides staring at him. “It’s really good?” he half says half asks, for the lack of anything better to say. She looks startled by this, her eyes following his fork back to the plate.

“That’s good. I was rather concerned the seasoning would be off. I also wasn’t sure how cooked the chicken had to be to be consumable for one of your kind.” Her face softens slightly, her shoulders relaxing for the first time in twenty-four hours, as she says, “It’s nice to hear I did well.” She looks… pleased, and the way she’s not stiff and hateful makes her look really cute, Kaito thinks absently.

Then he nearly chokes as he registers the thought, slamming his fork down with a clatter as he thinks viciously to himself, _‘Don’t be stupid, Kaito. She’s a demon: don’t forget it. Her appearance was designed to undermine me so she could use it to get her way. Maybe she’s cute, yeah, but that doesn’t change anything.’_ Then Kaito remembers how Shinichi had first appeared as a male and he pauses, staring down at his plate.

“Summoner?” She asks curiously, probably wondering why he'd stopped, and he looks up to meet her eyes.

“You were male when you first appeared,” he blurts, then internally cringes at how badly he’d worded that.

Shinichi doesn’t appear bothered by it, only stares at him passively as she confirms, “That is correct?”

“But you said you’re female?” She blinks, then presses a hand to her chest as if to emphasize the breasts there, and Kaito fights a blush as his gaze darts away.

“That is because I am currently physically female.”

“But what are you usually then?” he asks, still staring past the table at the floor.

“Genders do not matter to my kind,” Shinichi informs him, and his gaze flies up to her in confusion. “Though I generally prefer a male appearance when I take a form as a gender-conforming species, I am just as capable of maneuvering a female body. I am neither male nor female myself.” Kaito’s jaw works for a bit, because he’s about eighty percent positive demons _do_ have genders, but who is he to tell a demon that says they don’t that they do?

He finally manages, “Then why did you go from male to female?” Her eyes go significantly colder at that and she stands suddenly, hair swirling with her cape at the movement.

“As if you do not know,” she spits with vitriol, then turns sharply to return to the kitchen. Kaito is left staring after her in confusion, wondering what the hell had just happened.

~

“Ah, Shinichi,” Kaito starts hesitatingly, once he’s found her again. She’d disappeared somewhere after washing the dishes and cleaning up, so he’d been starting to get worried that she left to go shop again or something without telling him. But now he’s found her, sitting on the roof, her bare feet pressed to the shingles, _still_ wearing that pretty dress. She glances at him, but only appears tired rather than furious still. The sun is setting, and Kaito can see why she’s up here, watching it, but he turns back to her, approaching her warily. She doesn’t protest, just watches him as he takes a seat next to her.

He tries to find a way to apologize without making a fool out of himself, as he seems to have constantly done this past day, when Shinichi breaks the silence herself unexpectedly,  murmuring, “I was out of line with my words and I apologize, Summoner.” Kaito startles badly, swiveling to look at her, and finds she’s pulled her knees up to hug them, burrowing her chin into the huddle. She looks almost small like that, and the observation sends a pang into his heart.

“No!” He protests, once he realizes he _needs_ to respond to that. “You weren’t out of line. Please, if I mess up somehow, tell me. Don’t let me mess up and not even know I’m doing it!” Kaito hesitates, then admits, “I’d like it if you’d tell me how I messed up, but- but you don’t have to.” Her eyes are only sad as they stare out into the horizon, lips pressed into a thin line, her nails leaving faint indentations in her shoulders. She says nothing, and Kaito can only thinks she looks regal like this. Which reminds him…

“Somebody I know…” he says, and she tilts the side of her head towards her knees to look at him. “They said that being bonded to me is below your station. Are you… high-ranked in the demon world, or something?” She hums tunelessly, shifting her gaze to stare past him, then closes her eyes, shoving her face into the gap between her body and her knees.

“Some would say so,” she finally utters. “Others would never dare suggest such a thing.”

“So it’s a matter of opinion.” When she says nothing to that he takes it as a confirmation, then asks, “Would _you_ say that being here is below you?” The wind around them seems to stop, silence engulfing them, even the city life seems to muffle as she slowly opens her eyes to regard him. They’re glowing brilliant cobalt, and a shiver runs down his spine at the sight. She seems to be contemplating something of great complexity, before her hand shifts from around her knee to wrap around her throat.

Around the tattoo.

“Yes,” she finally utters, voice brittle and frigid. “Yes, I would say that is the case.” Kaito doesn’t know if he feels hurt, insulted, or guilty at that, a strange combination swirling in his gut. She sighs and the forlorn look returns to her eyes, the glow fading as she adds sadly, “Though there is no fighting it. Such is my lot in life, it seems.”

The unbridled sorrow in the words prompts guilt to take control, and Kaito asks, “Is there some way I can make this… not so miserable? For you?” A laugh seeps from her lips, not happy at all, but she extends the hand not around her neck towards him slowly, as if to see if he will flinch. He doesn’t, because nothing in her eyes makes him feel as if he should fear her.

Slowly, carefully, her hand settles in his hair, nails scratching his scalp gently, and he resists the urge to lean into the touch. Her fingers card through the strands, petting, and it feels nice, not like he would expect from one he does not know well. Then her hand traces the shape of his head, index finger skidding down the indent of his nape, resting there softly.

“Do not let others touch you so familiarly,” her words are pleading, eyes entreating. “I beg of you.”

Kaito swallows and nods, hoping his heart remembers the fact that this girl before him is a demon that he should _not_ be falling in love with. _Especially_ considering she hopefully won’t be with him for long.

~

_(“You don’t have to ask Hakuba about demon hierarchy, Aoko,” Kaito says the next day, setting his bag down with a thunk. Beside it he places down more carefully a lunch box that Shinichi had packed for him. “I asked her and it seems like it’s just a matter of opinion.” Aoko blinks at that, then her eyes widen._

_“Oh! I almost forgot I was going to ask Saguru that. Homework yesterday was killer.” Then Aoko stares at him, slightly suspicious, and asks, “Are you sure though, Kaito? It wouldn’t exactly be difficult to ask.”_

_“I’m sure.”)_

~

Kaito never stops to think about something he probably should’ve until he’s out shopping with Shinichi a week later, when he hears the grocer manning the counter say, “Isn’t that the same outfit you wore the day before yesterday, missy? It’s very pretty.” Kaito sort of… pauses… at that, finally registering that Shinichi’s been wearing the same outfit since he’d summoned her. She barely glances up, humming in vague acknowledgment as she very carefully counts out the change, murmuring something about currency and values as she painstakingly withdraws one coin at a time. The grocer seems to deflate at the lack of attention, but Kaito sort of feels like smacking himself.

She hands the man the change, smiling in victory, and Kaito reaches to take the bags of groceries before she can. She blinks at him, startled at the action, but before she can protest he quickly says, “Follow me.” He knows she does, hears the rasping of _his_ _sandals how stupid can he be_ echo behind him as he leads the way.

They enter the shop and he turns to face her as the clerks chorus a cheerful “Welcome!”

“Summoner, what-”

“You need something to wear. I am _so_ sorry I didn’t realize it sooner, but you can’t just only have that outfit the entire time you’re bonded to me.”

She looks nonplussed as she inquires, “Why not?”

“Because sooner or later someone’s going to figure out that that’s the only thing you wear and I’d feel way too guilty besides. You don’t even have shoes!” Her lips purse as she glances down at the sandals encasing her feet.

“These work fine, Summoner. I see no problem.”

“There _is_ a problem,” Kaito states flatly, and she just looks bewildered. “ _Please_. Pick something.” Her eyebrows furrow as she stares at him, before glancing around the store, looking troubled.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start,” she murmurs, then casts a glance at the bags he holds, “and most of that needs to be refrigerated, else it will spoil.”

“I’ll go home to put it away, then come back to get you. And the bags.”

“But I don’t know what to do! Bags? Why more than one bag? I don’t understand!”

“How’s about _I_ help you pick out clothes, my Lady?” A voice literally purrs from below them, and Kaito’s head jerks down to see a talking cat sitting at their feet. Not exactly a rare sight, but definitely uncommon. Kaito quirks an eyebrow at Shinichi who only shrugs back: it’s not one she knows. Before Kaito can start up on the dubious trustworthiness of unfamiliar sentient beings in general, the cat states, “I swear on my pride in my being that no harm will come to the Lady while she is with me.” Which is basically the most promising form of oath that can come from any one creature, honestly. Kaito and Shinichi share a nod before he leaves, leaving her standing there alone, the cat weaving itself between her legs.

He does his best to move as fast as possible, not completely comfortable with the idea that he's leaving Shinichi practically alone in an unfamiliar place that's open to the general public. It only takes about twenty minutes, because luckily they hadn't gotten on the train to go shopping, and he returns to find Shinichi and the cat still in the same shop. Shinichi seems to be looking through the racks, body language uncomfortable as the feline looks up at her, it's mouth opening and closing inaudibly.

When Kaito comes into range he hears, “The command given was that you couldn't incite violence yourself, yes? That means that I and my kin could attack him ourselves without any repercussions to you!”

Kaito stops, heart sinking. He should've known better than to believe a magical creature  wouldn't try to do something like this with a demon. But instead of agreeing immediately and colluding with the other as most any other demon _would_ do, Shinichi hums flatly, fingers flicking disinterestedly through the hangers.

“I am aware. You have already made that quite clear. Not even mentioning the fact that I had realized as much for myself.”

“Then why not?!”

“As I have said before: that would be dishonest.”

The cat hisses angrily, “Dishonest? What that S _orcerer_ did was dishonest! This is his just desserts! This is _justice_!” Shinichi looks under her shoulder, down at it: a cold look on her face.

“I appreciate that you seem to care so deeply for my fate. However, the fact remains that I have already refused your help. Pressing matters will only make you appear egoistical.” The cat makes a rude sound, and Shinichi's eyes flash as she adds, “And know that if you attempt to do such a thing anyway, I will be forced to face you and the rest in battle.”

Kaito startles at the conviction in that, his feet shifting and giving him away. They turn to him, demon and cat, one of whom's expression softening slightly and the other's becoming as furious as an animal can look.

Before he can say anything, the furry one darts past him and out the door, calling, “Know that the offer still stands!”

Shinichi only huffs a bit at that, before greeting, “Welcome back, Summoner. Regretfully I have not been able to find anything.” Kaito can only stare at her in shock, then swallows dryly. Shinichi raises an eyebrow, “Summoner?”

“Uh,” he manages, then runs a hand through his hair. “How about we try a better store?” She nods obediently at this, stepping away from the rack.

~

Kaito knows his wallet is singing a funeral dirge in his pocket, but it's worth it to see how Shinichi clutches the bags she'd insisted on holding herself. The helpful sales clerk waves them off, smiling widely.

“What else am I forgetting…?” Kaito murmurs to himself, and then remembers- “How does your hygiene work? Here, on this plane? Do you need to take showers?” Another thought, then he asks, “Do you _sleep_?”

Shinichi blinks slowly at him, then replies, “I suppose yes to showers, though not nearly as often as your kind. I maintain my own hair. And my kind does not brush their teeth. We do not need to.” Her lips tilt with up at that, as if it's an inside joke, before she cocks her head at him. “I do sleep, but again, not as much as you.”

Kaito closes his eyes, already hearing how broke he's going to be after this, then gamely says, “Okay, then you also need shower stuff and pajamas. And maybe a blanket, since a personal blanket is nice to have.” Kaito's lost in thought, so he doesn't notice Shinichi stop until he feels a pull at his sleeve, and he turns to look at her.

Her blue eyes seem perplexed as they stare into him, as if searching for something she can find in his _soul_. Finally, she says quietly, “You don't have to do this, you know. It is not required.” Kaito looks at her, at the way she clutches the bags to her chest as if afraid he will take them away, then smiles a little helplessly.

“I know. I want to anyway, though.”

~

_(When they get back to his house, her holding the shopping bags full of clothes and the one holding an incomprehensibly soft blanket, him holding ocean breeze scented shower necessities, he says, “And hanging out at the house all day can’t be fun. You know you can do what you want, right?” She watches him with a look in her eyes that’s hard to place, but it doesn’t look like a bad look, not at all._

_Then she ducks her head to look up at him through her eyelashes, asking shyly, “Would it be alright if I read your books?” Kaito blinks at her, startled._

_“Of course you can! Why wouldn’t it be okay?” Shinichi just shrugs at him, a smile tinted with awe forming on her lips. Then she paces forward carefully, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek._

_“Thank you… Kaito.” Then she shuffles away to put down her things- Kaito gaping after her, astounded, cheeks flushing a horrific red.)_

(She’s changing tactics, nothing more.

He knows.

She isn’t starting to care for you.

His heart shifts in discomfort, quietly disagreeing.)

~

“This is unlawful,” Shinichi says, eyeing his outfit with faint disdain. “Is there no other way you can find what you seek?” KID shrugs at her, raising the jewel he’s stolen to the sky, knowing that there will be no red glow even before it overlaps with the moon. It does as he expects, which is to say, nothing.

“This is how I found out the truth in the first place, my dear.”

“Can you please give me the details? You were rather vague in your initial rundown. Just that your father was murdered and that you wish to bring justice to his killer.”

KID cuts his eyes at her, then asks lightly, “What else is there to say?” She narrows her eyes at him, eyes distinctly displeased.

“Perhaps your father’s identity, for starters. Then possibly the method of assassination. Any information you already have on the culprit.” Her lips tighten as she says, pointedly, “Exactly how you intend to achieve justice. Will you have them arrested, or…?” They both know how that blank is meant to be filled. Silence permeates the rooftop.

“This is hardly the time,” KID finally utters, raising an eyebrow at her. “Why did you not ask such questions earlier?”

She scowls, an expression he hasn’t seen on her face for a month now, articulating, “I hardly knew that we were addressing the problem now. You just told me to put on a dark outfit, _Summoner_.” That's how KID knows she's mad. She usually calls him by his name, nowadays. She scoffs, tossing her hair over her shoulder before swivelling around to face another nearby rooftop, snarling over her shoulder, “I suppose I'll just have to get my answers for myself, then.” And she leaps. KID watches in blatant shock as she bounds from rooftop to rooftop, yards and yards apart, long cloak flaring out behind her with her hair as her bare feet flash pale in the moonlit night, indicating that she holds her shoes in her hand.

KID doesn't move from his spot until he realizes she's nearly out of sight, then curses a blue streak as he unfolds his glider as fast as he can, worrying that he won’t be able to make it to the other far-off rooftop he thinks he can glimpse her at. The wind catches his glider before he can start calculating the angle he’ll need to aim, sweeping him off of his current rooftop in a way that has _never_ happened before, flinging his heart into his throat.

He lands right next to her before he can even process that the wind had somehow brought him to exactly where he needed to be, but before he can demand to know if _she_ did that he feels the hairs on the back of his neck and arms rise, atmosphere crackling with energy. KID finally takes in the situation, the storm brewing, because Shinichi is standing there with righteous fury on her face, bare heel grinding into the hand of a man wearing all black, cutting him off from his rifle.

The man’s whimpers of “Please” and “Oh God” filter their way into KID’s hearing, and then he registers a flash of white as Shinichi bares her teeth down at the helpless would-be sniper.

Her eyes start glowing cobalt again, a sight he hasn’t seen since the rooftop conversation, and her hair rises to float as if gravity does not exist, spitting the word, “Confess,” through her teeth at the man.

The man does not disappoint.

“I was hired to kill the Kaitou KID,” the man blurts, his eyes widening as if he cannot believe he admitted that, but his mouth seems to disobey him as it pours out the rest. “A man that called himself Snake was the one to hire me. He said if the gem glowed red and I let KID go then he’d kill my entire family and then me after making me watch.” His voice grows panicked as he continues, “He said KID would be alone on the rooftop- that he’s always alone! I got confused since there was a girl there too and I wasn’t sure if the girl was a partner of his and to just shoot him or if she worked with Snake and that I should hold fire until I got a signal! I can’t stop talking! Why can’t I stop talking?!”

“Identify yourself,” Shinichi interrupts.

“My name is Yamada Ryuu and I’m thirty-three years old. I’m married to a woman named Kana and we have two sons and a daughter: Takumi, Kariya, and Miyu who’s only three. We live in a hotel owned by Kana’s father, The Lotus, room 518. My parents-”

“Stop.” The man’s mouth snaps shut with an audible click, his pupils blown in fear, sweating profusely. KID can see his pulse jack-rabbiting in his throat. Shinichi turns to the figure in white, eyes still glowing ethereally, and KID resists the urge to flinch away. “What would you have him answer?”

KID stares down at the terrified man, feeling disgusted pity clawing at his jugular, and requests, “Tell me all you know about Snake.”

Shinichi only blinks once at him before looking down at the man once more, intoning, “Answer.”

The words pour out once more as if they are liquid and he is a sieve. He does not know much about Snake. Only where to meet him if the mission was a success, where Snake would only be if KID’s demise was on the evening news. He’s sorry. He doesn’t know. He’s _sorry_.

The man is a dead end- just another dead end.

When Shinichi stops him once more she looks back at KID, the glow fading from her eyes as she questions tonelessly, “Will you call the police, or will he die here and now?” KID doesn’t even look back down at the sobbing man as he pulls out a burner phone.

~

“I’m glad you did not lower yourself to kill him,” Shinichi murmurs into Kaito’s neck later that night. They’re curled up on the sofa together, huddled under Shinichi’s blanket as if hiding from the cold. Kaito holds the heist target up to the light again, letting the purple color shine down to spread patterns across his face.

Kaito feels the warm breath ghost down under the collar of his shirt, and says, almost absently, “My father’s name was Kuroba Toichi. He was one of the greatest Sorcerers of the millennium: powerful and kind. For personal reasons he became the Kaitou KID, and as KID gained a reputation for being an excellent thief. Snake attempted to hire him to locate and steal an elusive gem called Pandora, said to shine red in the moonlight and grant eternal life to he who drinks the tears it cries when it glows. My dad refused, and did his best to find it so as to keep it away from Snake for good. He…” Kaito has to stop and swallow, and Shinichi curls even closer. “I don’t know _how_ exactly, but… my dad died screaming. Right in front of me. I was only eight years old.” He hears the shaky exhale she releases, and leans into her as she projects sympathetic sorrow.

They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, before Kaito finally admits, “I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever have Snake at my mercy. I just… I don’t know.”

He feels her lips whisper against his pulse as she sighs, “Know that whatever you choose, I will be with you.”

( _'It’s just a demon’s charm,’_ he tells himself sternly, trying to be firm. His head wants to believe that even less than his heart does, and that’s saying something.)

~

The first time Aoko meets Shinichi is also the first time Shinichi steps foot in his school.

She sweeps into Magical Theory V with her hair in a high ponytail, wearing a high-collared leather jacket and skinny jeans that look honestly sinful on her. Regretfully Kaito misses her entrance, busy showing Aoko how to do a problem, but they both look up when the room goes dead silent where there had previously been a low murmur of conversation in the background.

Luckily it’s during a break while the teacher is out, else he’d get in trouble for getting her attention by calling, “Shinichi!” and waving his arms. Aoko lets out a startled gasp, but Kaito’s eyes are on the demon that smiles fondly when she finally locates him, strutting her way over in her heavy-duty boots. “What’s the special occasion?” he asks teasingly, knowing that every time he’s asked if she wanted to come with him to school before she’s wrinkled her nose and complained of the smell.

“You forgot your lunch,” she says softly, belying her outfit, then carefully sets it on the table in front of him.

“Aw, thanks dove,” he coos back teasingly, and pink tints her cheeks as she pouts slightly, looking away.

Her gaze lands on Aoko, then her eyes light up in recognition as she says, with some surprise, “You’re Kaito’s friend Aoko, the Wizard.” Her lips curl into a smile as she says, almost shy, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m sorry it’s taken so long- the mixed energies in this place make me uncomfortable, and you never seem to come over when I’m home.”

“Ah…” Aoko says faintly, “it’s nice to meet you too...” She sends a panicked look at Kaito a look that he somehow reads as _‘_ _This_ _is your demon??’_ Before Kaito can ask her what her deal is, a heavy magical energy presses down on them, making all three of them turn to look at the approaching girl.

“I finally get to meet Kuroba’s pet,” Koizumi hums, floating closer, the words making both Kaito and Shinichi stiffen. Before Kaito actually registers Koizumi reaching a hand towards Shinichi’s neck the demon has already slapped it away, fingers curling as if they are talons.

“You’re the Warlock whose energy was all over Kaito when he came home from school the day after I was summoned,” Shinichi acknowledges, her eyes flashing.

“ _Kaito_ ,” the girl simpers, eyes drinking in the demon. “Are you perhaps fond of he who clipped your wings, little bird?”

Kaito opens his mouth to angrily retort but Shinichi replies instead, stating, “It is unwise to attempt to mock me, young Warlock,” in a dangerous voice.

Koizumi releases a scornful laugh, expression derisive, taunting, “Have you forgotten your chains, O Noble One? You cannot attack me here, for if you do your master will be punished for allowing you to be violent.” Shinichi responds by releasing her aura, the weight of it almost suffocating and Kaito hears Aoko choke on a breath. Kaito’s about to tell Shinichi to _stop_ , but the weight releases from the rest of the class to bear down solely on Koizumi, whose smile finally falters as fear flits through her gaze, knees buckling slightly.

The demon’s eyes are glowing cobalt once more, restrained hair floating up, and the inquiry of, “What is your greatest fear?” falls from her lips.

The Warlock’s mouth immediately opens, answering, “That someone will find out how to terminate my contract with Lucifer before my demise.” Her eyes widen, blood leaving her face as she stares in horror at Shinichi, limbs frozen. Shinichi steps forward almost softly, no matter that she is wearing combat boots, and she reaches out a hand to trace a fingernail along Koizumi’s cheekbone, mirroring how Koizumi always touches those without their consent.

The Warlock swallows dryly, and the demon leans forward to croon, “Should I ask the follow-up question?” into Koizumi’s ear.

Stark terror fills the girl’s voice as she whispers with quivering lips, “Please don't. Please.”

The class watches in stunned silence as Shinichi takes a step back, aura retreating and her eyes cease their glow, Koizumi falling to her knees. “Do not approach Kaito anymore,” the demon commands, her anger spicing the air. “And never again presume that you are somehow above me to mock me, _mortal_.” At that she spins on her heel to stalk over to Kaito who’s frozen, half-out of his seat, and swoops down to plant a kiss on his temple.

“Have a nice day, Kaito,” she murmurs into his hair. Then smiles apologetically at Aoko, saying, “Hopefully we can chat some other time, my dear,” before sweeping out of the classroom as regally as she’d entered. Kaito feels the eyes of the entire class save Koizumi, who is breathing shallowly and huddled on the floor.

“Holy _hell_ Kuroba,” Kaito hears someone say into the stunned silence. Silently, Kaito can’t help but agree with the sentiment.

( _‘She doesn’t mean it,’_ he protests weakly, a token resistance.

His heart and head are one as they have always been- he’s always been more of a doer than a thinker- as they turn the protest on it’s side, demanding, _‘What if she does?’ _

Kaito doesn’t have an answer to that.)

~

_(Their professor never returns after break ends. The school ends up having to ask a different teacher to sub in temporarily, and there’s whispers about what could possibly have caused it._

_The rumors say that he had walked himself straight to a local clinic, claiming that he was hallucinating badly. Babbling nonsense such as “It couldn’t be possible” and “No such way” and “These old eyes are seeing things, they must be”. He is admittedly old, a Sorcerer that’s managed to reach the ripe age of five hundred and sixteen, but he’s never had such a problem before._

_There is not only one person in his class that glances at Kaito out of the corners of their eyes when the news reaches them. There was, after all, one definite new thing that had come to the school that exact day.)_

~

Two weeks later, Kaito gets home from school to find a swan standing outside the gates, staring into the yard. When he stops about a foot away it turns it’s head elegantly to examine him, eyes intelligent as it looks him up and down. Kaito wonders about the protocol of examining a possibly normal animal for a magical ailment, when it seems to make a decision, making a muffled, nasal sound.

Almost immediately a sharp, female voice says from behind him, “So _you’re_ the owner of the house.” Kaito whips around to stare at the woman standing before him, at the _heaps_ of jewels adorning her entire body, at the way she wears only a couple of strips of cloth, and quickly averts his eyes. She has short blonde hair, which is the only other thing he’d registered before the practically naked bit. An entertained laugh comes from her direction, and she yells, calling past him, “Seems to be a complete innocent!”

The swan responds to that with an irritated honk, flapping it’s wings, and the blonde seems to sober as she says, “She’s right. Let us in, mortal. We’ve come to see Shinichi. Their wards as a guardian are far too strong for us to break. Only those with vocalized permission may enter.” Kaito blinks, mentally wondering _‘Guardian…?’_ , before he remembers the talking cat and his eyes narrow in suspicion, keeping his gaze affixed to the blonde’s eyes. They’re slit-pupiled and pale blue.

“How do I know you’re friends of hers?”

The blonde openly snorts at that, making a show of rolling her eyes, before asking slyly, “Aren’t their cowlicks _adorable_? I mean, honestly I think they’re kind of stupid, but Ran thinks they have character.” Kaito’s inclined to agree with both the first comment and the mentioned ‘Ran’, because Shinichi still has the cowlicks as a female and they are _extremely_ adorable, especially after Shinichi's just woken from one of her every-three-day sleeps.

“Yeah, okay,” Kaito admits, and blinks back at the swan that’s still standing there, hesitantly including it in his permission as he says, “You both can come in.” The swan immediately lets out an almighty honk as it forces the gate open with one beat of it’s powerful wings, Kaito watching in stupefaction as it races forward, faster than he would’ve thought something with webbed-feet could go. The blonde laughs outrageously behind him as they both watch the swan yank open the door with it’s beak, disappearing through the doorway in a swirl of feathers.

Kaito curses as he runs to the doorway himself, hearing a distressed female voice crying, “Shinichi!” from farther inside the house, and Shinichi shouting incredulously, “Ran?!” before there’s a crash. He almost trips over a cloak made of feathers that’s puddled in the doorway as he passes the entry, and sees Sonoko stopping behind him to pick it up, treating it carefully as she waves him on.

“You’ve been gone for half a year!” The other female voice shouts angrily, and he follows the voice to the kitchen where he’d have guessed Shinichi would be. He’s right, he finds upon entering the room, but Shinichi's not alone, which is also something he could’ve guessed. What he didn’t guess was that their other, yelling guest would be straddling Shinichi, the long black hair against her pale skin only emphasizing the fact that she’s stark naked. Kaito immediately moves his gaze elsewhere, flush spilling across his cheeks. “Normally it wouldn’t bother me all that much- it wouldn’t have been the first time you disappeared into a library or a treasury for over a year-” Shinichi mutters inaudibly at that, sounding irritated. “But Heiji came by saying you’d! Shacked! Up! With! A! Sorcerer!”

The last words are punctuated with thwacks of flesh hitting flesh and Shinichi interjecting crossly, “First of all- _ow_ Ran, what the hell? Second, I’m killing Heiji. That damned mutt.”

“Shinichi-!” The naked woman- _Ran_ \- starts again shrilly, then her words cut off with a horrified gasp. Kaito sees the blonde out of the corner of his eye leaning in the doorway looking amused, but at the sound she straightens with a frown.

“Ran-” Shinichi says, trepidation filling her voice. The tone makes Kaito force his gaze to fix itself on what little of Shinichi he can see from underneath the other woman, concerned.

“What is _that_?”

“Don’t _touch_ it- Ran- listen-”

“ _Is that what I think it is??_ ”

“I-”

The blonde pushes her way past Kaito towards the two other females, metal jingling next to each other at the rough motion, stronger than she looks, then crouches down to see what’s upsetting the other newcomer.

She reaches out a hand, her bracelets clinking, doing something he can't see, and Kaito hears a despairing, “ _Sonoko_.” A low snarl comes out from between the blonde’s teeth, then two pairs of blue eyes snap to lock onto him, one narrowed cat-eyes and the other teary and furious.  

“ _You_ -” Ran hisses, seething, her hair falling forward over her shoulders to hide her chest as she leans.

“It wouldn’t be too difficult to kill him,” the blonde, Sonoko, says, looking him up and down.

“Uh,” Kaito finally manages, the atmosphere oppressive and teeming with rage.

Then Shinichi shouts something in Ancient, forcibly sitting up and upending Ran, leaping to her feet to put her back to Kaito, standing protectively in front of him. The collar of her button-up is disheveled, and Kaito registers a sinking feeling in his chest as he realizes he pretty sure he knows what set them off.

The blue-purple tattoo is clearly visible like this, with Shinichi’s hair pulled up in a low-loose bun.

Visibly upset, Ran leaps to her feet, yelling back at Shinichi in the same language, her hands balled into fists. They start a shouting match, weights shifting and fingers pointing, voices going from horribly shrill to desperately pleading. Sonoko occasionally interjects a phrase or two, her arms crossed, and everytime it seems to be in support of Ran because she gets more steam and Shinichi has to fall back on protests once more, the circle never-ending.

The next time Hakuba comes back in the area, Kaito will not let him leave until he teaches Kaito the Ancient Tongue, he swears to himself.

Then the fight seems to escalate to new heights as tears start spilling down Ran’s cheeks, still shouting, and she steps forward towards them. Without thinking, Kaito throws a magical barrier out, letting it surround Shinichi and himself to protect them from the still-naked female.

It seems to be probably the stupidest thing he could’ve done, because Ran gasps in affront, tears shining, then screams in Common Tongue, “You conniving, evil, piece of-!” and throws her body into a powerful roundhouse kick. Her foot connects with the barrier, bouncing her off with a ripple of energy, but Kaito _feels_ echoes of the force enter his nervous system, sending him cringing backwards at the pain.

Shinichi immediately spins to grip his upper arms, peering at him worriedly, demanding, “Kaito, are you okay? That must’ve hurt. Kaito? Sweetheart?” One of her hands move to massage the back of his neck, the other cupping his cheek, and she pulls him forward in a hold that has her tucking his head under her tilted cheek, his nose touching her collarbone. Kaito works very hard to not just shove his face into her neck. Another blast of pain blares through him and he can’t quite suppress the moan of agony, his knees weakening from under him.

Shinichi supports him, gathering him in her arms, and he feels her look over her shoulder to snarl, “Ran, you are my best friend, but if you continue this attack I will be forced to face you in battle.” Kaito hears the sound of two gasps coming from past her, one shocked and the other pained and teary.

“You would go so far for him?” Sonoko says it, Ran appearing too emotional to speak, and Shinichi turns slightly to meet her eyes.

“He is mine,” Shinichi articulates. It is apparently all she needs to say: Sonoko inhaling sharply and Ran letting out a pained sob. For a time after that the only sound in the room is Ran’s quiet crying, Shinichi continually stroking a hand through Kaito’s hair, when the near-silence is broken by the sound of pounding footsteps retreating- _fleeing-_ and the sound of Ran’s sobs is gone. A heavy atmosphere fills Kaito’s kitchen.

Finally, Sonoko shifts her weight, the sound of her anklets tinkling, then observes, “You’ve gotten emotionally attached.” Shinichi says nothing to that, her hold on Kaito only tightening slightly. Sonoko sighs heavily, then states, “You should’ve told us earlier. You know Ran was hoping for us to form a trine.” Kaito feels Shinichi flinch slightly at that, but she still does not respond, only presses her lips into the crown of his head, feeling her swallow. He hears Sonoko take a tentative step forward, feels a slight pressure touching his barrier, and she asks, “Are you happy, Shinichi?”

Kaito feels Shinichi’s heartbeat under his forehead and hears her finally murmur something, but it’s in Ancient so he still cannot understand. Even though he doesn’t know what the words mean, though, they sound familiar to him. The pressure retreats from the barrier, the jingling signalling Sonoko’s exit, and the blonde calls back, “We’ll come back to meet him properly when Ran stops sulking. You’d better be prepared for a real grilling when that time comes!” Then they faintly hear the door close, and complete silence save their breathing is the only thing to be heard.

It feels like hours pass before Kaito has to shift, to move even a little, and Shinichi immediately straightens, tugging Kaito along to settle him down on the couch, brushing his hair back from his face soothingly. He stares up at her, unspeakably exhausted at the damage his barrier had taken. He hadn’t been thinking when he’d thrown it up, so he’d forgotten to take into account that Ran’s attacks would probably pack a _punch_ and had instinctively picked a weaker defense barrier that would conserve his magic more.

“Here,” she says gently, and her blanket is suddenly being tucked around him, her hand not leaving his cheek. Her thumb strokes the ridge of bone under his eyebrow gently. “I bet you’re hungry, huh? You haven’t had dinner, and taking Ran’s attacks like that took a lot out of you.”

She moves to pull away but he clings to her sleeve, mumbling, “... ’m not hungry, ‘nichi.” If anything her expression softens further, releasing a quiet, helpless laugh. Her fingers card through his hair, and he doesn’t stop himself from leaning into it.

“I understand, love,” she says quietly, “but you need to eat something. I’m going to get you some water, then something that’ll help your energy levels a bit, yeah?” He grumbles sleepily but releases her sleeve, curling into the soft blanket. She presses a kiss to his eyelid before leaving for a moment, returning to press a bottle of water into his hand, a soft command of “Drink at least half of that” before she retreats back to the kitchen, making distant rustling sounds that he's too tired to wonder at. Kaito obediently drinks the water, forcing himself to swallow each mouthful down, and the liquid slowly hydrates him, making him feel a little better.

Shinichi comes back as he’s swallowing the fourth time, carrying a plate of sliced plums, and carefully takes a seat next to where he lays on the couch. He wants to press against her but knows he might upset her balance if he does, so he tries his best to sit up. Unexpectedly, Shinichi presses a fruit slice to his lips, not forcing him to take it himself.

Misreading his hesitance she informs him sternly, “You have to eat at least one fruit’s worth, Kaito. At _least_.” He nods submissively, then opens his mouth to let the fruit pass his lips. She proceeds to feed him the rest of the plate, what must be at least two whole fruits but Kaito can’t make himself tell her no. Not the way she’s watching him, adoration in her eyes, as she only pauses feeding him to make him drink another couple mouthfuls of water.

“Let’s get you to bed, then,” she murmurs, tucking her arms under his knees and shoulders, picking him up in a princess-carry. He only curls into her hold, the blanket somehow staying on him. Her hold doesn’t falter at all, steady all the way until she slowly lowers him onto his bed.

She tucks him in carefully as if he’s made of porcelain, letting him keep hold of her blanket, but before she can move to leave he clings to her sleeve again, managing, “Please… don’t leave. At least not until I fall asleep.” She returns to stroking his forehead, the dip in the bed indicating she’s sat down, and he voices an even quieter and slightly pathetic, “Thanks.”

“Anything for you, Kaito,” she returns fondly. There a quiet stillness, comforting, but Kaito fights to stay awake, wanting to bask in this moment for as long as possible.

“Will you… tell me about Ran and Sonoko? And… and Heiji?” A soft laugh escapes her as she scratches lightly at his scalp.

“Maybe tomorrow. But yes, of course, whatever you want.”

Another couple of minutes pass, then Kaito manages to slur, “Shin’ichi?” She hums at him in question, and he asks hazily, “What did you tell Sonoko? At the end?”

Her stroking pauses for only a millisecond, and he hears her laugh a little helplessly, muttering “So he really didn’t know” to herself. Then she leans down to kiss the curve of his jaw, whispering in his ear, “I told her that you own all of my love and my heart.”

Kaito feels his heart swell, thrumming in his chest, and asks, “Will you kiss me?” Shinichi doesn’t answer verbally at first, only nosing at the dip of his jugular, making him shudder.

Finally, she utters a quiet, “Ask me tomorrow, love. You’re much too tired to be properly consenting to anything right now.” He grumbles a little at that, but lets it go because the way she’d phrased made it sound like _she_ wanted to, too.

“I’m in love with a demon,” he mumbles to himself. “Never saw that coming,”

Shinichi lets out a laugh that’s entirely too amused, retorting only with, “Go to sleep, youngling.”

(He prays to any deity that will listen that Shinichi will be the exception to everything he’s ever heard about demons, because he’s not sure he can stand to lose this now that he’s had it.

 _During his first ever lesson on summoning, their teacher looked each one of them in the eyes and said, “A demon will do and say whatever it wants, anything it needs to do to feed it’s greed- it’s amusement- whatever it pleases. It will promise you riches, the heart of the one you covet, even the world, and then will smile as it dismembers you._ _Never_ _trust a demon.”_ )

“Kaito,” Shinichi breathes into his hair. “Dearest one, _please_. Rest. You deserve it.”

Kaito can only obey, finally falling asleep, listening to the sound of her heart beating.

~

 _(The next day Kaito wakes up to the sun shining across the bed, showing that he is_ _way_ _late for school. Shinichi hears him struggling to get up, coming in to scold him gently and push him back into bed, saying she’d called in his absence for the day and that he needs rest. The entire conversation that had taken place the evening before comes rushing back to him, and he stares up at Shinichi, breathless, as she flutters around him, asking if he’s alright._

_“Kiss me?” He pleads, and she stares down at him for only a moment before her eyes gentle immeasurably, swooping down to press her lips to his. Kaito makes a low sound in the back of his throat, returning the pressure, but she pulls away as soon as he nips at her bottom lip._

_He worries he overstepped, until she snorts and flicks his forehead lightly, teasing, “I’m going to have to insist you brush your teeth before we do any open-mouthed stuff, Summoner.” He stares up at her for a handful of moments before flinging the covers off of himself in a burst of energy, darting towards the bathroom before she can herd him back into bed. Her giggles are music to his ears as he scrambles for his toothbrush.)_

~

“Ran,” Shinichi sighs, lying next to him in bed. Her hair is almost as wild as his usually is, and her lips are bruised, a hickey matching his own forming on the curve that marks the meeting point of neck and shoulder. All souvenirs of their previous make-out session, Kaito thinks smugly. But now is the time he learns more about Shinichi's friends, so he’d asked. “She’s what you mortals call a Swan Maiden.”

Kaito blinks at that, then his eyes widen in realization as he gasps, “The cloak of feathers at the door!”

Shinichi leans forward to kiss his cheek, humming in confirmation, then continues, “We’ve been best friends since we were very young. Our parents knew each other. She gets very protective of me sometimes, but I know she cares.” Her nose wrinkles adorably as she adds in consternation, “Even though she tends to hit me when I piss her off. I usually dodge, at least.” Shinichi pauses, then continues, “Oh, you’ll like this. Sonoko’s a dragon.”

Kaito squeaks in surprise, echoing in disbelief, “A… dragon? But aren’t they, you know,  giant, fire-breathing lizards? She didn’t have any scales that I saw.”

Shinichi smirks at that, voice mischievous as she comments, “And you saw quite a bit of her, didn’t you? Sonoko doesn’t like wearing much more than the bare minimum and her jewels.” Kaito blushes scarlet at that, averting his eyes guiltily. Shinichi leans forward to rub noses with him to show she isn’t mad, then frowns consideringly, thinking aloud as she says, “I don’t know how I feel about you having seen more skin on two of my friends more than you’ve seen on me. Disconcerting.”

Kaito swallows, then asks, “Should we get on with that?”, reaching for the bottom hem of her shirt, but she smacks the hand away lightly.

“Down, lover boy,” she laughs. “No need to rush. Besides, I still haven’t finished answering your question.” Kaito pouts but withdraws his hand, and she nips his ear as if to say ‘Good boy.’ “Now, of course magical creatures can take human form! What do you take them for?!” She pokes his forehead and giggles at the face he makes at that, burying her face in the pillows to muffle the snickers.

Once she gets over that particular fit of laughter, she continues, “Heiji’s a hellhound. You missed him when he stopped by last time because you were at school, but you’ll probably meet him soon enough. He showed an expressed interest in meeting the Sorcerer that managed to summon me.” She cuts her eyes at him, roguish, as she says, “Maybe it will be at a heist as KID. Nowadays he tends to run with the police as a wannabe-detective, and he’s good enough that it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s asked to help the Task Force out.” Kaito pouts at that, and Shinichi presses kisses all over his face in amusement. “Don’t worry,” she assures, eyes sparkling, “I’ll protect you if mean Heiji the Hellhound comes to play fetch.” Kaito snorts at that, rolling over a little before settling back to face her, curious about something, but worried it will be over the line. Shinichi hums in question, reading the hesitation on his face.

“What's…” he starts, and then winces and goes for it, finishing, “What's a trine?” For the first time that day, Shinichi's smile falters, and Kaito immediately wishes he could take it back.

“Ah,” she sighs, then leans in to the hand he moves to stroke her hair. “Ran made it clear a while ago that she had romantic feelings for both Sonoko and I. We both… cared about her similarly, and we were trying…” she pauses, searching for the right words, before continuing, “We were trying to see if we could feel for each other the same way. If we could, then we’d be able to form a trine.” Shinichi glances at him, pointedly elaborating, “A trio, rather than a couple.” Kaito blinks at that, startled.

Then his shoulders slump slight as he asks weakly, “Would you prefer that?” Trying and failing to hide his insecurity.

_(“Is that what you will do when our contract is complete? Will you leave me like almost everyone I care about does, like I know you should because I trapped you here with words and spells from the very beginning?”)_

“Kaito,” Shinichi sighs, exasperated. “We can never know if Sonoko and I would ever have been able to be together like that anyway, and Ran’s far too stubborn to pick only one of us if she thinks there’s even a chance of having both. Besides,” she points out, taking the time to scrape her teeth lightly along on his collarbone, “this is the first time I’ve ever felt truly in love with someone. And I've been alive for a long, long time.”

“How long?” Kaito asks, just to be cheeky, and Shinichi growls a little before shoving her hand under his shirt in retaliation.

He finds he doesn't mind very much at all.

~

_(Maybe she won’t leave.)_

~

“You know, detective,” KID says lightly, though he’s internally rather nervous as he backs up a couple of steps, “you’re awfully persistent.” The dark-skinned boy grins, exposing sharp canines, pacing forward.

“Call it a character trait,” the other says easily, weight shifting as if in pursuit. “You’re not the first to say that, and definitely won’t be the last. Didn’t know the Kaitou KID was so unimaginative.”

KID puffs up at that, exclaiming crossly, “How rude! Now I _definitely_ don’t want to give the jewel back- at least to you.” KID makes said jewel appear in one palm, flicking it back and forth between his hands in a little show.

“Don’t say that. I’ve got a bet going with this really annoying guy that I can get back one of KID’s heist targets all on my own. I’m gonna make him eat his own words, the pretentious-” The detective cuts off as he follows KID onto the rooftop, the open air hitting his nose, making him blink. He turns to look around, and KID takes the chance to check the gem, wanting the other off his back as soon as possible. Heists are no fun anymore if he doesn’t get to make out with Shinichi on the rooftop. That’s how the last two had ended, anyway.

But once he’s standing next to the edge of the roof, mid-motion in raising the jewel to the moon, KID suddenly feels the burn of a lightning bolt going _through_ him, lighting every one of his nerve-cells up in agony.

Even the sound of Shinichi’s voice crying out, “ _Kaito!_ ” can’t stop him from crumpling forward, toppling over the railing. His consciousness is fading in and out, vision blurring, but he knows his hearing works as he hears a screech that must come from a bird the size of a mountain. At least that’s what it sounds like. He wonders if he’s hallucinating through the pain and the electricity still pulsing through him, feeling something like claws wrapping around him, and suddenly the air around him is rushing down not up. He’s set down on cold flooring, seizing, unable to do anything but listen to the jumble of words spoken around him, feeling hands press to his cheek and chest gently, warmth pulsing from them.

He hears an ungodly roar, then a male’s voice curses, spitting, “The enemy’s a summoner- it’s a wyvern- I can’t fight that.” The hands on Kaito stay, owner of the hands saying nothing, and the voice repeats insistently, “I can’t fight against that, Shinichi. My claws aren’t sharp enough to pierce scales yet. And teeth can only do so much when I can’t fly like it can.”

Finally a female voice curses from above him, hissing, “God _dammit_ Heiji,” before the hands pull themselves away, making Kaito whimper involuntarily. The hands come back to stroke quickly, panicked, through his hair, the voice murmuring, “I’m sorry love, I need to go- I’ll be _right back_.” A kiss is pressed to his lips and the presence withdraws, Kaito’s consciousness fading fast, and the last thing Kaito hears before blacking out is “If you let him die Heiji I will rip you limb from limb,” and the sudden loud flapping of wings, followed by a battle-shriek.

~

When Kaito regains consciousness, ache and pain having practically disappeared, he finds that he’s been divested of most of his outer clothing, only wearing his dress shirt, slacks, and monocle, surprisingly enough. Before he can get panicked about that he registers that his head is resting in a familiar lap, one hand resting lightly on his forehead, a pulsing warmth emanating from it, while the other strokes soothingly down his side. He opens his eyes to see Shinichi above him, as expected, her eyes fixed solemnly on something out of his view. She notices his attention almost immediately, mouth stretching into a relieved smile, shoulders relaxing considerably.

“Thank goodness,” she murmurs, almost to herself, then almost absently moves her hand from his forehead to stroke his bare cheekbone with her thumb, cupping his jaw. Kaito notices with horror that her arms are wrapped in stark white bandages, reaching from her wrists all the way up to the base of her neck.

“Shinichi,” he says, voice startlingly clear, but she gently presses a finger to his lips, her own pursing, eyebrows drawing together.

“What would you have me do, Summoner?” She asks, projecting the words to the room they’re in, and Kaito blinks for a moment in hurt (she only ever calls him summoner teasingly, now), when he notices she’s moving her gaze back and forth between him and the previous spot she’d been staring at pointedly. He turns his head in her lap, taking in the view of the rest of the room, when his heart jumps to his throat.

Standing next to the door is the dark-skinned detective, hands tucked into his pockets and leaning back, almost casually if not for the stiffness in his shoulders. He has a pair of dog ears and a fluffy tail that he didn’t during the chase, and his canines are poking past his lips, but none of that is what holds Kaito’s attention.

Snake is sitting up hog-tied in the center of the room, stripped down to his boxers, his mouth stuffed with his own socks. There’s a line of blood trailing down his chest, the origin point a nail driven deep into his skin under his collarbone. His eyes are filled with rage and he tries to speak, but the words are inaudible through the makeshift gag.

“What-” Kaito breathes, sitting up quickly and staring down at the man who’s constantly tried to kill him with shocked eyes. The man’s own eyes widen in hatred as they fix on the right side of Kaito’s face (his monocle, he realizes), then starts screaming into the gag, what must be profanities proclaimed so loudly they are nearly comprehensible.

“Shut up,” Heiji snaps, pushing off the wall to kick the side of Snake’s head, the action sending the man swiveling face-first into the floor. The movement’s so smooth that it can’t have been the first time Heiji’s done it. “You should be glad he’s up, now we can finally decide what to do with you.” Heiji pauses, then a vindictive smirk settles on his face as he amends, “Okay, I can see why you wouldn’t be so happy about that. Doesn’t mean we wanna hear you squealing though.”

“We’ve been waiting to see how you want this to go,” Shinichi says, and Kaito’s eyes snap to see that she’s now standing to the right of where he sits, her eyes fixed on the bound man but words doubtlessly meant for Kaito. He swallows, turning his gaze back to stare down at the man who’s struggling to sit upright once more.

A tiny feeling of dread is building in the back of Kaito’s sternum, and he realizes with horror that he can’t even focus on the fact that he finally has his father’s killer at his mercy. All he can seem to think about is that- with this-

The contract will be fulfilled.

And Shinichi will be free to go.

And he realizes with building self-disgust that he was unconsciously perfectly fine with the idea that he may never catch Snake, see him pay for his sins. Not as long as he could keep Shinichi with him, by his side.

His heartbeat picks up as he realizes that they’re all waiting for him, and he summons up the age-old Poker Face to ask blandly, “Isn’t this slightly overkill?” He eyes the state the man’s in, a detached part of him knowing that if this were anyone else he’d pity them.

“If the situation were any different,” Shinichi admits, and Kaito looks at her inquiringly.

“He’s a Sorcerous summoner,” Heiji states, voice hard. “All they need is a catalyst to summon a specific thing. Or being, as we found out the hard way.”

Kaito almost doesn’t want to know, but still prompts, “The hard way?”

“Around when you fell unconscious, he summoned a wyvern that I had to leave you to fight and two drakes that Heiji had to keep off of you,” Shinichi explains. “We beat them, gagged him, restrained his arms and legs, and thought that was the end of it.”

“Which is when he apparently decides it’s time for his emergency stash,” Heiji contributes, baring his teeth in a not-friendly way. “And then I had to fight two more drakes, _plus_ a manticore, and _Shinichi_ had to fend off two more wyverns _and_ a _chimera_.” He pauses to let that sink in before adding, “Which isn’t as fun as it might sound, let me tell you. So yeah, he’s as naked as _we’re_ comfortable with, thanks.” Kaito’s eyes fly to Shinichi in worry and she crosses her arms, the bandages drawing attention to themselves.

“Later,” she murmurs to him, and that is not reassuring at all.

He forces his eyes back to Snake, eyes locking on the trail of red, and croaks, “And the nail?”

“Once he knew he couldn’t do much else, he tried to become a conduit for a demon.” Heiji’s voice is flat as he says it.

“A summoning done in desperate need in that state-” Shinichi explains, “the demon would’ve been much too strong for him to handle, after spending so much of his energy. It would’ve killed him in an instant, and then we’d have needed to fight that off too.”

“Yeah,” Heiji chimes back in, tapping his foot against Snake’s head again, “no thanks. You get a silver nail in your skin so demons stay the hell away from you.”

“Summoner,” Shinichi calls Kaito’s attention, then when their eyes meet she repeats, “what would you have me do?” Her eyes glint with an emotion that he can’t place, then she reminds, “This is what you summoned me for.”

He _really_ wishes she hadn’t reminded him of that.

_(He wishes she’d forgotten that.)_

_(He prays she hasn’t been counting down the days for this moment.)_

Kaito swallows loudly, forcing down everything else as he dredges up the one question that’s been haunting him since he witnessed his father first start screaming. He doesn’t look away from Shinichi’s clear eyes as he pleads, “How did he kill my dad?” Her eyes are the only things that change at that, sadness and sympathy swirling, before she breaks her gaze from his, boring holes into the man on the ground.  

Her aura surges to the surface once more in a rush, ever so much weaker than last time, revealing how hard she’s fought today: eyes glowing, hair floating, and demands, “How did you end Kuroba Toichi’s life?”

(Kaito hears Heiji mutter _“They always look so creepy like this,”_ and Kaito can’t help but disagree. Shinichi is always and has never been anything less than enchanting.)

“Nightmare Reality,” leaps from Snake’s mouth, and he seems to struggle but fail miserably at clamping his teeth down on the words, “It’s a spell I found in the catacombs of Rome. It makes you live out every possible death you’ve ever imagined: for yourself, your enemies, and then even the deaths you’ve feared for your loved ones.” A twisted grin stretches across his face as he adds sadistically, “As the Kaitou KID and a powerful Sorcerer, I’m sure he was very often worried about such things.”

It's only the look of absolute fury he can see hidden in Shinichi's eyes that keeps Kaito breathing even through the pain. He watches her seethe internally, doesn't even question why she's hiding it, and fights to focus on the fact that Shinichi is furious on his behalf, that she doesn't have to be but she is, that she _cares_.

He has to focus on it, otherwise his world will be once more engulfed in the memories of his father's dying moments and the new knowledge of _why_.

Shinichi looks down at him, a glance, a question. _‘Is there anything else you want to ask?’_ Mutely, Kaito slowly shakes his head. He’s always thought that once he has Snake at his mercy that he’d ask him millions of questions. Sometimes he’d found himself passing time just coming up with questions to ask. But now, staring down into his glaring eyes, Kaito can’t think of any other question that matters. Things like _‘What made you think you had the right to take him from me and my mom?’_ and _‘Do you know how much you ruined my life?’_ don’t seem to matter anymore, like they’re such childish questions that he can’t even fathom voicing them.

All of the unspoken questions seem to mix and merge into one as Shinichi asks it herself, barely restrained wrath tempering her voice as she snarls, “Do you have _anything_ to say for yourself? ”

“I never imagined how powerful you could be,” Snake says, utterly unrepentant. “You defeated a class six summons with almost no effort, and then immediately took out two more class sixes and a class eight _simultaneously_. What will it take to make you obey me? I can give you priceless treasures- whatever you wish.”

“Now you sound like a demon,” Heiji drawls, leaning back. “You know you’re only pissing them off.”

“I already have a precious thing to protect,” Shinichi seethes, releasing her aura. “A creature like you could never offer anything of interest to me. And you are mistaken about something: I obey _no one_. I am not a dog to call to heel.”

“That mark on your neck begs to differ,” Snake returns, eyeing it blatantly. His greedy eyes take in her form, lingering on her chest, her legs. Then his gaze focuses past her, onto Kaito, and he sneers at her, “Or perhaps you are less a dog to call to heel and more a bitch in hea-”

Shinichi hauls off and kicks him square in the face, the sound of his nose snapping practically echoing throughout the room. He’s already unconscious by the time his face slaps against the floor.

“And here I was about to kill him just for saying that to you,” Heiji says, almost conversationally. He prods the limp body with the toe of his shoe, tail swishing slowly, commenting, “I’ll never get how mortals like this can become so powerful. Keeping him alive would make the _planet_ more pitiable.”

“That’s up to Kaito,” she says, voice overly-controlled.

Heiji nods, “True. Nightmare Reality is a horrible way to go, and as the next of kin that tracked down his killer he has the right to decide.” He pauses, ears twitching, then he adds thoughtfully, “Speaking of, someone should go destroy that inscription. It’d already be gone if we’d known about it before.”

“Heiji, not now.” Shinichi turns her head to look back at Kaito, eyes carefully blank as she paraphrases the question she’d voiced only once before, standing over that first would-be sniper: “Will you turn him over to the law, or will he die here and now?” Kaito stares into her eyes after she asks that, speechless, wondering what she would say in his situation. If she wants him to make a certain choice.

Snake is a terrible person. He killed Kaito’s dad for getting in his way, killed him horribly, even. Tried to kill Kaito himself more than once- would’ve managed it this time for certain, if Shinichi hadn’t somehow caught him from his fall. All because he somehow prioritizes a fabled stone that grants immortality- no, prioritizes his own selfish greed- over human life. Kaito wonders how many other people he’s killed for getting in his way. And for what he’d said to Shinichi- whatever he’d done to cover her in bandages, something in Kaito wants him to _suffer_. For all of it. To pay for blood with blood. To pay for pain with pain.

But.

But he knows what his father would want, is positive it’s what he would want even knowing of his own torturous death. He thinks of Aoko, the ordinary human that had become magical, become a Wizard, solely because of the joy Kaito had brought her with his own magic long since they were children. He imagines looking himself in the mirror everyday, how it would be if his own eyes were the eyes of a killer. He thinks of Shinichi, murmuring _“I’m glad you did not lower yourself to kill him”_ into his neck.

“Whatever you choose,” Shinichi reminds him gently, “know that I will be with you”

He knows what he will choose.

He might regret it sometimes in the future, when rage comes with the flood of tears that tend to come by on bad nights, but by God he won’t regret it the rest of the time and that’s what’s important.

_(He wishes that the ‘with you’ part covered a physical ‘stay with you’ kind of thing too, instead of just being ‘I will abide by your choice’. He knows what he will choose, but he’s half-terrified that the moment he says the words Shinichi will leave his life the same way she’d entered: in a flash of light.)_

_(He’s more than half-terrified.)_

_(He opens his mouth anyway.)_

When Shinichi’s face breaks from blankness to form a proud grin, he doesn’t think he’ll ever regret it at all.

~

Maybe it’s an adrenaline crash, maybe it’s just the events of everything that had happened the past night that catch up to him, but Kaito passes out after seeing her smile.

When consciousness drifts back into his grasp, Kaito doesn’t have time to panic over the possibility of Shinichi having vanished because he can feel that his head is in her lap again. Then he hears talking and decides not to try to open his eyes, choosing instead to eavesdrop groggily.

_(He lets out an internal sigh of relief when he feels that Shinichi is no longer covered in bandages.)_

“If we’re letting that waste of oxygen live, he is _not_ gonna just stay in prison obediently. You know he won’t. You heard the stuff he said before we gagged him.”

A hum of agreement, then, “We may have to ask Gin to remove his magic.”

“I thought you hated Gin! And for good reason too- you _know_ what he’ll want in exchange for his help.”

“Well hopefully I won’t find myself in a situation where I’ll have to fly again anytime soon, then. He’s the only Dark Magik Practitioner that won’t immediately take the ‘kill or be killed’ route the second they lay eyes on us.”

A reluctant, “I suppose he _is_ the lesser of two evils.” A pause. “Are you going to go destroy the inscription in the catacombs?”

“It _does_ need to be destroyed, but I don’t feel comfortable doing it myself. Going underground for an extended period of time makes me antsy.” Fingers twine themselves into Kaito’s hair.

“Well _I_ don’t wanna go! And I can’t exactly ask Kazuha- she has claustrophobia. Probably’d deck me if I even tried asking.”

“What else would do expect from a wind spirit, Heiji?”

“She ain’t exactly a sylph.”

“No, but a kamaitachi is still practically a wind spirit, moron. Especially considering the whole ‘riding on dust storms’ thing.”

A brief silence.

“Well, Ran’s out. For obvious reasons. What about Sonoko?”

“The only underground cavern Sonoko will ever deign to enter is her treasure horde. Don’t be an idiot.”

“Shiho?”

A snort, “Sure. You get to be the one who owes her something, this time.”

Another pause, then a whiny groan, “I don’t _wanna_!”

“Face it: you’re the best option.”

Another, louder groan.

The fingers start stroking his hair absently. It's so comfortable that Kaito has to fight to not fall back to sleep.

“It sucks that we missed an inscription of Nightmare Reality, though. Thought we managed to destroy all references of it, after what happened to Scotch.”

An expectant pause goes unanswered.

A more pointed, “Makes you wonder if all this woulda still happened if we’d managed to destroy it a century ago.”

“Are you trying to hint at something, Heiji? Because you’re terrible at subtleties: you either don’t get your point across at all or you do it far more effectively than is polite.”

“Then I’ll stop tryin’ to be subtle. I don’t like that mark on your neck, Shinichi.”

Silence.

“How can you be so gone over a mortal that put _that_ on you?!”

“Nothing I feel is fabricated by the bond, Heiji.”

“I know! And it’s only because that’s true that I haven’t already killed him! That Ran and Sonoko haven’t killed him! Hell, anyone you know would be down to kill him if that spell had even the _chance_ of affecting you emotionally! How is _he_ the one that manages to make you fall in love when Ran spent two centuries just trying to get you to see her as anything more than a friend?”

“I honestly don't know. It's just… one minute I was ready to orchestrate the most painful death I could manage within the limits of my orders, and the next…” a fingernail runs a light line from Kaito's temple down to his chin, then traces his lips absently, “he just didn't act like I'd expected, considering. Not at all.”

“And so you fell head-first for a mortal.”

“I suppose so, yes.”

“Love can be pretty permanent, Shinichi.”

“I know.” The words are pained. “Believe me: I know.”

“... Do you think you'll ever regret it?”

A helpless laugh, “How could I _ever_ regret loving him?”

And unconsciousness takes hold of Kaito once more.

~

Upon waking up once more, feeling rested and awake this time, Kaito wastes no time in asking Shinichi about the reason for the bandages when he sees that Shinichi's still here and Heiji's gone, Snake with him. They're also in Kaito's bedroom, which is admittedly a lot more comfortable, and he only registers later that Shinichi must have changed him into his pajamas herself, a realization that makes him flush maroon.

“Oh,” Shinichi says, blinking, then she smiles hesitantly at him. “You don't need to worry about that, Kaito. I'm fine now.”

_(She's still here.)_

“But I _want_ to be worried,” he insists, bringing a hand up to cup her cheek. His heart melts a little when she nuzzles into his hand. He strokes her cheek with his thumb, “Please?”

She sighs, then starts reluctantly, “Wyverns are rather simple to fight, to be quite honest. The problem was that there were two of them, so I had most of my attention focused on how to take them out quickly and consecutively. That was when he brought out the chimera, and… he took me by surprise, I admit.”

He moves his hand through her hair, the other holding her wrist to caress her pulse, her newly-healed skin, and asks, “How bad was it?”

She looks even more reluctant, but something in his face makes her admit, “I got a face full of flames, and my entire front half got burned.” Kaito sucks in a sharp breath, horrified, but Shinichi just traces a line down his neck, leaning forward to bump foreheads with him comfortingly.

“I'm fine now, precious,” she reassures.

“But your face was fine when I woke up?” He says as a question, and in response she looks away, avoiding his gaze. “Shinichi?”

“Heiji pointed out that you'd probably freak out if you saw me like that, so I healed my face after stabilizing you.” A horrified lump forms in his throat at that before immediately sinking into his gut.

“It was that bad?” He whispers, and Shinichi's eyes widen before she starts peppering his face with kisses.

“It's okay- I've been hurt a lot worse before, you don't need to worry- I'm okay.” Kaito lets himself savor the attention as the lump slowly unravels in his stomach.

“If you can heal,” he says, breaking the silence a couple minutes later, “why didn't you heal all of your burns first?”

“I wanted to make sure I didn't miss something when I was healing you,” she answers, resting a palm over his heart. “It's a miracle he didn't manage to kill you with all that electricity. Your heart wasn't beating evenly like it's supposed to.” She exhales shakily, then noses into his neck. “I was so worried about you.”

He strokes his hand through her hair again, comforting, then asks, “What about after I was stabilized? Why didn't you heal yourself before waking me up?”

“You're more important,” she mouths over his pulse point. “You mortals are so fragile. I knew my burns could wait.”

_(She's still here- still here even though she doesn't need to be._

_Still here._

_Maybe she'll stay._

_Maybe she loves him enough to stay for good._

_Maybe-)_

~

Three weeks later, Shinichi is still here and showing no signs and making no mentions of leaving. Kaito wants to lavish her with attention, wants to smother her with the affection his heart swells with every time he thinks _‘She’s still here and she still loves me,’_ but he doesn’t want to risk her asking why and subsequently having to remind her that she’s free to go.

Sometimes he sees her stop mid-motion to stare at her passing reflection, to thumb at the mark around her neck, and her eyes always fill with an emotion that he can’t place.

The times she looks most happy (besides when she’s with him) is just after a shower, which she takes more often now to smell faintly of the ocean, and goes to the roof to stand and let the wind dry her hair for her, eyes closed in bliss. On the occasions he sees this Kaito remembers that first heist and how she’d seemed to control the wind, because the wind never blows her hair in her face, which is basically impossible otherwise.

They bump hips in the kitchen every other day, both dissolving into fits of giggles as she tries to teach him how to cook and he mixes up the salt and sugar, and on the rare times that he helps her figure out things like the way to fill a cupcake with frosting, and what her favorite pastries are.

She makes breakfast and dinner and little lunchboxes with octopus sausages and apple slices cut into bunnies because she knows he likes them. She’s learned by now how he likes his omelettes, that he prefers his mashed potatoes with heaps of butter _and_ cheese. He almost never sees her eat much of anything, mostly only when she’s socially expected to, but he thinks she eats f-finny things when he’s out which he can hardly blame her for. She does an amazing job at hiding the evidence if that _is_ the case. On the rare occasions they go out to eat he notices that she goes out of her way to dress up, but also that she prefers wearing things that are loose on her back and that are soft to the touch. She definitely prefers to wear no shoes but she’s not above wearing things like stilettos, just so she can purposely outpace him and smirk at him from over her shoulder whenever she catches him staring at her legs (and slightly higher up).

They share a bed every night, even the nights when Shinichi doesn’t sleep. On the nights that she does, he likes to hold her in his arms and listen to the sleepy, unintelligible murmurs that are mouthed into his throat or chest when she’s deep asleep. On the nights she doesn’t, well. Sometimes she still lets him fall asleep with her in his arms, or maybe he falls asleep in hers, his face pressed against her chest or her lips tracing patterns across his shoulder blades, one leg hooked over his hip. Other nights she rests his head in her lap and strokes his hair, whispering words of love to him or painting stories in his mind until he falls asleep. Sometimes clothes come off (never all off both) (notyetnotyetnotyetnotyet ~~-notever?~~ ): soft moans echo around the room, sounds of kissing, praises of beauty spoken into sweat-slick skin, and both agree that the sight of the other’s blush against the sheets is gorgeous.

They wear the hickies like trophies.  

The first thing Kaito wakes up to everyday is her loving blue eyes gazing at his face, drinking him in as if she’ll never get tired of seeing him, and when she notices he's woken up she’ll lean in to kiss him softly and gently, as if he’ll break into a million pieces if she’s not careful.

He’s noticed that she likes to wear his things, will find her curled up on the couch wearing his shirt with his pillow under her head, reading his books more often than not when he gets home early from school. She never fails to say ‘Welcome home,’ whether she has to peel her eyes from a page to meet his and murmur it with a smile curling on her lips or calls it from where she’s poking her head around the kitchen entryway.

He catches himself thinking that he could never possibly get tired of it, and can’t even bring himself to feel guilty for it.

_(He doesn’t care if it’s selfish: he doesn’t want her to leave. He wants her to be by his side for the rest of their lives. To be by hers. He wants to see her eyes and hear her voice and smell her hair and taste her skin and feel her heartbeat for forever._

_He wants to get to know Shinichi’s male form as well. Wants to memorize his laugh and hands as well as he has hers. Wants to know if that spot between his shoulder blades is as sensitive for him as it is for her. Wants to hear him tell Kaito stories about strawberry skies and alabaster oceans, to feel his skin underneath his fingertips, be held by a body he remembers as big enough to wrap Kaito in his arms. Wants to taste-_

_Wants to take that next step with her with him. Shinichi is Shinichi no matter the gender and by God Kaito loves Shinichi more than anything- more than he can ever say. More than there are stars in the sky and blades of grass on the ground- More than words can even begin to describe. Every atom in his body loves Shinichi and that is the truth._

_Please._

_He doesn’t want Shinichi to leave._

_Pleasepleasepleaseplease-)_

~

“I don't know what I'm more annoyed about,” Kaito says, flicking the glass in front of him to cause a ringing sound, staring at the blond that sits next to him at the bar with perfect posture. “The fact that you haven't gotten back to me once since I tried to contact you seven months ago, the fact that even considering that- you still call to see me before your _girlfriend_ the day you finally come back, or the fact that you wanted to meet at a bar of all places when you know I'm still underage.”

“Let's just say I have a bone to pick with you, Kuroba,” Hakuba says simply, and even considering the bar bit he still wraps his hand around a glass of non-alcoholic elderflower cordial (still the same old uppity British Sorcerer).

“Oh yeah?” Kaito asks, unimpressed.

“Yes. How is it that the Kaitou KID is so capable of keeping himself and his conquests out of the hands of others until he decides to give the jewels back, yet the instant I decide to place my bet on him a _hellhound_ somehow manages to procure the gem from his possession?”

“Oh.” So that’s how the gem had been returned. Shinichi must’ve passed it to Heiji while Kaito was knocked out. Then Kaito narrows his eyes, “Wait, _that's_ what finally made you come running back? A blow to your pride?”

Hakuba remains tellingly silent.

“I’m telling Aoko,” Kaito mutters viciously into his cream soda.

“In any case-” Hakuba says hastily, “how in the world did that hellhound manage to defeat you? You’re currently about on par with a class six creature, and at his age he should only be a class five.”

“You missed the fire-fight,” Kaito answers sweetly, voice saccharine. “It was a real rager- it had everything from a hellhound to a chimera.” Hakuba sets the glass down with a sharp clink, looking shocked.

“You and the hellhound defeated a chimera?” He asks faintly.

“To be more precise, a demon and the hellhound defeated four drakes, a manticore, three wyverns, and a chimera, but I can see how you got confused.”

“Oh you were joking. You scared me for a second there.”

“I’m not kidding.”

“Kuroba, if you’re trying to have me on then you need to get your facts straight. There is no way a demon and a hellhound, even working together, could defeat that many opponents at once.”

“Okay,” Kaito admits sulkily. “You’re right- it wasn’t all at once. Apparently it was the demon against a wyvern and the hellhound against two drakes, and then once that was over with the demon faced off with two more wyverns plus the chimera and the hellhound had to take down two more drakes and a manticore.”

Hakuba looks almost concerned as he opens his mouth to say, “You know that’s just as unbelievable, right? While the hellhound’s theoretical matchups wouldn’t be _impossible_ , per say, there is absolutely no way a demon could’ve done what you said.”

Nonplussed, Kaito says, “But… it’s the truth.” Hakuba leans towards him slightly, finger resting on the rim of his glass.

“Kuroba, eighty percent of demons are class five at most. Less than twenty percent of them are either classes six, seven, or eight. It may have been a level eight demon if you’re saying the demon died during the fight after taking out the chimera and a wyvern, but you said nothing of the sort and I highly doubt a level eight demon would be willing to die for you anyway. There are only three demons in the world that are capable of defeating two class sixes and a class eight at the same time and survive, and those are the High Courtesan, the Demon Army General, and the Demon King. And believe me when I say that if one of those three had left the demon realm to participate in that supposed fight: Japan would no longer exist.”

“B-but…” Kaito stammers, mouth dry, heart starting to thud in his chest, “But Shinichi did. And Shinichi’s a Demon of Truth- she confirmed it herself.” Hakuba stares at Kaito for a long, long moment, tapping his finger slowly against the counter.

“You’re not joking,” Hakuba finally realizes. “Kuroba, there’s- there’s no such thing as a Demon of Truth. Demons aren’t truthful- aren’t honest. A Demon of Truth is practically an oxymoron.”

Kaito can only stare at him, speechless. Hakuba’s not a good enough liar to pull off this kind of prank. Then Hakuba’s eyes narrow in speculation, like they always do when he’s on a case.

“You said ‘she confirmed it herself’,” Hakuba recalls. “Did you suggest the phrase yourself?”

“I-” Kaito falters helplessly. He swallows, then, “I- yes. I asked if she was a Demon of Truth and she said yes after thinking about it. And not like she was considering a lie- not like that-” he says hurriedly, seeing that possibility in Hakuba’s eye. “She really has the power to compel truthful answers from people- I’ve seen it happen! And no one can lie when they’re within ten yards of her, either!” Hakuba sits back a little looking thoughtful, bringing his hand up to hold his chin in a thinking pose.

“This is the one you summoned over half a year ago that Aoko told me about?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you learn the phrase Demon of Truth, anyway? I can’t imagine any professor would even be capable of uttering such a thing.” The blond turns his head to study his drink.

“That one other upperclassman that knows Ancient Tongue?” Hakuba’s head snaps back to Kaito, his eyes ablaze with suspicion.

“Kuroba, _what_ other upperclassman that knows Ancient Tongue.”

“...Yamamura? I saw the symbols scribbled in the corner of a picture in a textbook and asked.” Hakuba’s jaw practically drops, indignation radiating from every pore in his body. “I also may have brought him a page with a spell, and since he told me it was a binding contract and how to pronounce it, I may also may have used it to contract with Shinichi,” Kaito admits meekly.

“Yamamura is the _embodiment_ of an unintelligent screw-up of a translator!” Hakuba protests, sputtering. “He’s taken Beginner’s Ancient three times and he’s failed every time! What _possessed_ you to use _him_?!”

Stung at the implication that the situation was entirely his fault, Kaito protests,“Then I guess he lies as well as a demon because he told me he was in the advanced class! And I _tried_ getting a hold of you but you never answered!” Hakuba pinches the bridge of his nose and reaches into his inner coat pocket, extracting his detective notebook and a pen and throwing them down on the counter between them like a gauntlet. Kaito stares down at the objects before looking back up at him blankly.

“Open to a blank page and write down what that waste of magic translated as ‘Demon of Truth’,” Hakuba commands, exasperated. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but you’re right: it’s at least _slightly_ my fault, so I’m going to help you figure out how bad you’ve messed up.” Then he kneads his forehead as if he feels a headache coming on, muttering, “ _Yamamura_ ,” darkly under his breath, reaching for his drink. Kaito rolls his eyes at the blond’s dramatics before flipping open the notebook and copying down the phrase, perfect recall letting it resurface with just a thought. He slides the notebook over to the other Sorcerer, raising an eyebrow as the blond looks down at it while he takes a sip from his drink.

As soon as he reads the phrase, Hakuba spits his elderflower cordial out onto the counter, face blanching dead white. Kaito blinks.

“This,” the blond says shakily, setting his half-full glass down with a clatter, gaze fixed on the symbols, “is what you summoned?”

“Um.” Baffled, Kaito says, “Yes?” Hakuba slowly closes his eyes, letting his head fall for a moment, before looking up at the bartender that’s staring down at them with well-hidden disapproval.

“I apologize for the trouble,” the detective expresses, extracting his wallet from his pocket. He slides over two bills, instructing, “I need five double shots of Irish Whiskey, but the rest is yours for the trouble.” He cuts his eyes at Kaito and concludes, almost to himself, “I can’t be sober for this conversation.” The bartender nods sharply and doesn’t give him the chance to take it back, snatching up the two bills and moving swiftly to get five shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

“Hakuba?” Kaito asks, but the other just holds a hand up, signalling for him to wait, staring at the opposite wall as if it holds all the answers to life. The bartender arrives promptly with the five shots and quickly cleans up the slight mess Hakuba had made as he downs one shot, and then almost immediately downs a second. His movements are marginally more steady as he sets down the second empty glass, then he pushes the notebook back to Kaito, all without looking.

He taps on the page opposite the one written on, ordering, “Write down the contract spell you used that that imbecilic bonehead said was just that. I need to know just how deep this personal hell of mine is.” Kaito almost says something to that, but he’s slightly disturbed by how Hakuba reaches for the third shot as if for a lifeline, so he turns to the blank page and starts transcribing the spell.

He doesn’t like where this is going- not at all.

“The thing about the translation,” Hakuba finally volunteers, swirling the whiskey around in the glass, staring at the liquid contemplatively, “is that it’s not _incorrect_ , which is the only reason your summon acquiesced to the title. If you were to translate the word ‘Demon’ into Ancient, you _would_ get the symbol that dunce translated into demon. The _problem_ ,” he stresses, throwing back the third shot, placing it back on the counter and starting to tap his fingers, “is that when it’s used _with_ a descriptor, it does _not_ mean _demon_. When Ancient Tongue was the Common Tongue, they didn’t have names for every creature of magic. So back then, if ‘Demon’ was used with a descriptor, it _actually_ meant something akin to ‘Creature of Magic’, or ‘Magical Creature’.” The blond reaches for the fourth shot glass, wrapping his fingers around it but not picking it up. “You’ll also notice that you’ve drawn a right angle above the third symbol.”

Kaito glances over at the other page. Just as Hakuba said, it’s there. The other Sorcerer raises the glass.

“That angle, in this case, would mean ‘Guardian’, or ‘Protector of’. ‘Enforces’, even, in particular cases. Which _means_ that what you summoned was not a ‘Demon of Truth’, though that is the _literal_ translation, but actually: ‘Magical Creature that Guards/Enforces/is the Protector of the Truth.’” Hesitantly, Kaito pushes over the open notebook, the transcription of the ten-line spell completed perfectly. Hakuba pointedly knocks back the shot in his hand before dragging his gaze back down to the notebook, obviously reluctant.

His eyes scan the lines, taking them in, taking a couple of seconds longer in translating them in his head as a result of his lack of sobriety. Kaito knows when he finishes reading it, though, because his face goes completely blank and emotionless.

He slides the notebook back to Kaito without looking up from the space it had been, requesting tonelessly, “Read it aloud to me.” Honestly concerned for Hakuba’s mental health, Kaito complies without protest, chill running down his spine as if his magic remembers the last time he had spoken these lines. He remembers the way Shinichi had cursed and yelled and fought tooth and nail as Kaito recited them, the hatred in his eyes when Kaito forced him to speak his name. The loathing that rolled off her body in waves as she clutched at her throat as if she would tear the skin off in a heartbeat if it would take the tattoo-mark with it. Trepidation finally starts creeping it’s way into his ribs, and he speaks the last syllable through a shiver. In response to the completion, Hakuba moans and drops his head into his hands.

“Did I mispronounce it?” Kaito’s voice is tentative, unsure if there’s even a certain answer he wants to hear in this case.

“No,” Hakuba’s voice wavers out. “No, you certainly… pronounced it correctly.” Somehow he manages to bury his head even deeper into his hands. “ _Mercy_ Kuroba,” Kaito hears him whisper to himself, “how are you still _alive_?”

“Uhhhh…?” Abruptly, Hakuba rises to his feet, slapping the table to hold himself steady.

“You need to apologize,” Hakuba declares, then nods to himself importantly. “Yes, apologies are most certainly in order. If they have not killed you yet,” he casts a dubious look at Kaito, as if wondering how he possibly managed to accomplish that, then continues, “then an apology will only be beneficial to your defense. Better late than never, as they say.” Then he turns to march out of the bar, grabbing Kaito by the wrist to drag him along.

“Wha- Hakuba!” Kaito's last thought before being dragged out of the bar is who will get that fifth shot of whiskey, because Hakuba still seems like he needs it.

~

Hakuba arrives at his and Shinichi's house in record time: by now mostly sober, still with a grip grinding Kaito’s radius and ulna together. Kaito is not pleased, but the other Sorcerer had ignored his previous attempts to protest, so Kaito’s remained sulkily silent since.

The first thing he does that honestly surprises Kaito after this entire out of character miniature meltdown is that Hakuba doesn’t just storm through the doors of his house like he’d stormed past the five crosswalks they’d gone through to get here. Instead, he actually stops outside the gates, stops in his tracks, and stares at the door with a look of awed horror.

“I honestly still can’t believe this happened,” he admits under his breath, “And yet there it is.” He takes in a deep breath and walks through the gates, wincing a little before stopping in front of the door.

“Hakuba, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?” Kaito demands, yanking pointedly at his own wrist. “You made it pretty damn clear Shinichi’s not a demon, so what _is_ she? And exactly _how_ bad was the contract? You’re acting like I cursed Shinichi out in Ancient!”

“In some ways, that may have been preferable,” Hakuba returns forcefully, then knocks once on the door before letting himself in, still dragging Kaito along, much to his renewed protests.

Shinichi is waiting for them inside: standing just inside the living room and facing the door looking wary. Her arms are crossed over an incongruously adorable sundress, not wearing anything else but a couple of anklets, hair down but for a small white ribbon that’s been used to tie back her bangs. Kaito’s heart sighs sappily at the sight, affection welling up at the thought that she’d gotten dressed up in such a cute outfit just for him.

“Welcome home, Kaito,” Shinichi says slowly, her narrowed eyes flitting between Hakuba, the grip he has on Kaito’s wrist, and Kaito’s irritated-slash-adoring expression. “Who’s our guest?”

Once Hakuba hears that, he lets out a ridiculous sounding squeak and drops to the floor, bringing Kaito down with him. The momentum makes Kaito hit his head against the floor, causing him to snap out an annoyed “ _ow!_ ” that Hakuba ignores in favor of pressing his own forehead to the wood flooring and rushing out, “O Noble One, please forgive this lesser Sorcerer’s incompetence- he meant no offense.”

Silence. Kaito makes a move to sit up and look at Hakuba in incredulity but the blond just releases his grip on Kaito’s wrist to press down on the back of his head, keeping him from getting up. Kaito growls lowly in frustration, but before he can actually fight the other they hear the clinking sound that signals Shinichi’s approach. The first thing she does, from what he can see with his head pressed down, is reach out with her foot to nudge Hakuba’s hand away from Kaito, leaving him free to look up. Then he sees Shinichi carefully crouch down in front of him, fitting her hands under his arms to pull him up with her.

“A lesson in etiquette, my dear,” she murmurs to him, brushing off his clothes unnecessarily, “you should never bow your head if I’m not. Most certainly not _to_ me.”

“Um.” Kaito feels a little turned around at the events taking place in this moment: definitely not what he’d been expecting when he’d been called by Hakuba to go have a drink with him. Which reminds him.

Kaito looks down at Hakuba, who still hasn’t moved from his place on the floor, and opens his mouth to tell him to get up or something when Shinichi says, in an odd voice, “Now, who _are_ you?”

The muscles in Hakuba’s neck are tense as he says, “My name is Hakuba Saguru,” and it appears he’s going to continue before the room’s temperature seems to drop.

“Hakuba,” Shinichi echoes, light in her eyes flickering as they fix on the back of his head. “Hakuba as in Haku-bastard? As in the Sorcerer that ignores his friends until he needs something from them? As in the soulless Britain that’s dating Aoko but doesn’t deserve her in the slightest?”

Dead silence fills the room, and Kaito doesn’t know whether to laugh or apologize. He feels marginally more guilty when he hears Hakuba swallow, the sound making Shinichi raise her eyebrow.

“I’d like to believe that, though I _am_ the Hakuba those phrases refer to, I am not quite that bad,” Hakuba says weakly, and Shinichi hums, unimpressed.

“You called me Noble One,” she observes, tilting her head, “which means you most likely know what I am.”

“I do,” he confirms, voice faltering.

“And yet you enter without being invited, move Kaito against his will, force him to the ground- hurting him by doing so, and _then_ presume to apologize for him as if he has something to apologize for. To apologize for to _me_ , no less.” As the list goes on, Hakuba seems to shrink farther and farther into the floor, and she finishes with a demanding, “Do you deny any of this?”

He can’t, no matter how much he hadn’t mean to do half of those things, and Kaito feels a wave of pity for the other Sorcerer wash over him.

“Shinichi,” he says tentatively, and she immediately turns her head to look at him worriedly, raising a hand to his forehead, placing her palm over it carefully.

“Is your forehead alright sweetheart? Hitting it against the hardwood must’ve hurt quite a bit.” She starts healing it but Kaito pulls away, thinking there’s something a bit more important to focus on here. His head doesn’t hurt _that_ much, and Hakuba’s still grovelling, which is actually starting to get creepy. Shinichi seems to notice his preoccupation and huffs out a sigh before looking back down. “What exactly did you think Kaito needed to apologize for?”

“The bind,” Hakuba says quietly, a mumble of words, and her head jerks back in comprehending shock.

“Oh,” she says, blinking.”You figured that out?”

Kaito’s head snaps to look at her, imploring, “What did I really say, Shinichi? He freaked out when he heard what I used.”

For once not seeming to hear Kaito, Shinichi asks the blond, “You know Ancient Tongue?”

“I do,” the other admits. “I’m sorry that Kuroba was unable to get in contact with me before he used the bind, but…” That recurring odd look returns to her eyes as she reaches up to rub absently at the tattoo, staring almost past him.

“Hm,” she finally concedes to utter, then she seems to glance almost guiltily out of the corner of her eyes at Kaito, who’s pouting. “However… I would not know how to tell him. I have admittedly been putting it off for quite a while now.” She shakes her head slightly before saying, “You can get up now. You’re obviously not an enemy. Although I will warn you not to behave such as you have again.”

Relieved, Hakuba gets to his feet, shaking himself slightly, then nods understandingly and says, “My apologies.”

“Shiniiiiichiiiiiii,” Kaito kind of sort of whines, poking her cheek gently. “Tell meeeee,”  She turns more towards Kaito again, gnawing on her lip almost worriedly, looking troubled. His heart softens at that and he stops poking her, instead moving his hand to release her lip from her teeth then cups her cheek. She leans into it slightly then sighs, pulling away.

“Please take a seat, Kaito.” She cuts her eyes at Hakuba and states, “You as well, if you would.” Hakuba doesn’t hesitate to follow her orders, so Kaito reluctantly sits down on the armchair instead of next to Hakuba on the sofa. In the end, Shinichi is the last standing, shifting her weight uncomfortably. “Where to even begin,” she mutters to herself, raising her hand from her throat to massage her temples.

“He doesn’t know what you are,” Hakuba blurts, and before Kaito can snap a retort back Shinichi replies with a startled, “Wait- what?”

Kaito flushes, looking down at his hands to avoid her gaze, and mumbles, “Well- I mean- _Demon of Truth_.”

Before Shinichi can confirm that again, Hakuba interjects, “He thought you were an actual Demon of Truth. As in: a Demon that represents truth. He didn’t know that in that case demon meant magical creature.”

If anything, Shinichi looks _disapproving_ , eyebrows furrowing as she snaps out an irritated, “What in the world is that school of yours _teaching_ you that you actually believed a _demon_ of _truth_ exists?” Kaito… doesn’t know what to say to that. She lets out an exasperated huff before saying, “Kaito, I’m a _Griffin_.” His mind blanks as she pauses, then asks Hakuba, “That _is_ what we are referred to as in Common, is it not?”

Kaito barely sees the nod, white-noise filling his ears as his mind frantically flips pages in his recollection to find:

_The Griffin(class nine) is a legendary magical creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, and the head, wings, and front legs of an eagle. Because the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of birds, the Griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. The Griffin was also thought of as king of all creatures. Griffins are known for guarding treasure, priceless possessions, and the truth, for which they are most known. Griffins are the protectors of truth: no one is able to lie in their presence and they are capable of compelling the truths they want from those that have wronged them._

Kaito can’t stop himself from gaping at Shinichi, who flushes in response, looking away.

“I managed to summon a Griffin?” He asks faintly, a ringing echoing from somewhere. “ _I_ made a contract with a Griffin?”

Shinichi, if anything, grimaces, and Hakuba answers him by saying almost bleakly, “You _wish_ you’d simply made a contract.” She legitimately flinches at that, biting her lip again and looking down at her toes, but Kaito doesn’t notice as he looks demandingly at Hakuba and questions, “What do you mean?”

When the blond opens his mouth to reply, Shinichi interjects, “I believe I should tell him, Sorcerer.” He obediently closes his mouth and she ruffles her hair uncomfortably, tugging at the hem of her dress absently. “It makes a lot more sense knowing it was because some translation errors,” she mutters, then seems to steel herself, looking up determinedly at Kaito.

“The… _binding_ ,” she starts, emphasizing the word, “a long time ago, used to be quite popular among spellcasters.” She pauses, almost for dramatic effect then elaborates, “Spellcasters that had become enchanted by the beauty of demons and wanted a demon bride for themselves, that is.”

A frozen moment.

“What?” Kaito croaks out. Shinichi wrings her hands, biting her lip so hard it starts to bleed. She licks it absently.

“ **\--** ” Shinichi recites the spell quietly, diction perfect, line by line from memory. She clears her throat, then glances up at Kaito through her eyelashes. “Are you sure you want to know what it means?” He nods woodenly, and she nods back almost dejectedly. “Tell me if I mistranslate something,” she orders Hakuba, then takes a deep breath and pieces together,

_“Priceless one, you will be my Bride_

_Though you may not yet love me_

_You will be mine for as long as we may live_

_My wife, as my culture decrees_

_I will show you love, so grant me all of yours_

_What I grant you is yours, be it my heart or my possessions_

_In return, everything of you will be mine_

_Wear this mark around your throat_

_So all who see you will know you are owned_

_With an exchange of names the Promise is complete.”_

Kaito feels the blood leave his face, staring at Shinichi in abject horror.

“Also,” Hakuba adds, entirely _un_ helpfully, “a quirk about Common Tongue is that the words ‘bond’ and ‘contract’ have become synonymous, both meaning short-term agreement that is fulfilled upon the completion of agreed-upon terms. That spell is a true Ancient _bond_ , which means it will be in effect until one of you dies, and no one, not even the two of you, is capable of breaking it any other way.” Kaito can only gape in response to that, face going grey, unable to think through _anything_ at the moment.

“Sorcerer,” Shinichi’s voice sounds out, tense and slightly irritated, “I believe you no longer need to be here. You may see yourself out now.” Almost unsurprisingly at this point, the sound of the door closing behind him is the only other sound Hakuba makes. “...Kaito?” she asks hesitantly.

Abstractedly Kaito feels kind of bad that he can’t respond, but he’s still having an existential crisis and all incoming calls are being put on silent. Shinichi sighs and scrubs at her hair, dislodging the style she’d tied it up in. The ribbon hangs listlessly to the side. Kaito sort of identifies with it.

“You once asked why the gender I appeared as changed from male to female,” she says, playing nervously with individual strands. She seems to be reaching for anything to say. “I reacted badly because I thought that you knew- your culture generally regards the title of wife to be held by women, as opposed to being a gender neutral term. So when the bond took hold I was changed to physically female.” She pauses, then admits, “I thought you were mocking me when you asked. That you wanted me to admit it aloud. That maybe it was your way of telling me to be a good wife or something similar.”

Kaito’s steadily becoming more and more horrified, which he had not thought could be possible. Shinichi worries at her lip with her teeth again, reopening the wound, then sucks her lip into her mouth to keep any blood from getting on the dress. She looks down at her toes again, shoulders hunching, knees pressing together as if she’s shrinking into herself standing up.

“Please say something, Kaito,” she whispers, the words fragile.

“Say something?” It falls from Kaito’s mouth, unbidden. He doesn’t remember giving them permission to leave the jumble of thoughts and panic his brain is at this time. “What could you possibly want me to say besides the fact that I am so incredibly sorry?”

He’s sure there was definitely a way to phrase that better. Shinichi flinches back as if burned, cheeks going slightly red.

“I don’t _want_ you to apologize,” she mumbles, sounding miserable. “I don’t… I-” Kaito’s body jumps to it’s feet of it’s own volition. Kaito wonders detachedly if his autopilot is malfunctioning.

“Shinichi,” he says, and she cringes as he takes a single step forward. He stops after that- his body realizing that there is too much turmoil going on in his head for any movement to be warranted. His mouth opens anyway: “I spoke the spell thinking it would only last for a temporary amount of time, not- not our whole lives.” He watches her shoulders tremble slightly, head dipping down the slightest bit more, as his head spiels out, _‘Imprisoning- conniving- no escape for her- she’s trapped- she has no choice- I’m a monster- Shinichi I’m so sorry why do I keep hurting you-’_.

_‘Why did they let me live if the alternative is Shinichi having no choice but to be shackled by my side until-’_

He swallows, then shakily amends, “ _My_ whole life, most likely.”

Her breath hitches in on a sharp inhale, a wounded sound, then she falls to her knees to bow low, hair spilling down around her face in a concealing waterfall. Kaito can only watch in horror because this is the exact opposite of what he wanted. _He_ should be the one on his knees: begging for-

“Please don’t ask me to leave.” The plea is whispered, yet it floats up to wrap around Kaito’s heart like a vice. “I know you didn’t ask for a permanent bond- I know it’s not what you wanted- but please. _Please_.” Her breath hitches on a sob, “I have been yours since you spoke to me of your past. Once I was yours I could be no one else’s. Please” She curls up into the ground as she begs, “Please be mine.”

Kaito officially regains motor control- he has to, because how else could he kneel down in front of her and reach out to cup her cheeks carefully as if she’s made out of delicately spun-glass? How else else could he pull her head up so she stares him in the eyes with her own watery and blotchy red ones? How else could love and affection and awe overflow in his heart several times over bursting as he presses their foreheads together gently?

How else could he look her in the eyes as her own fill with tentative hope and that ever-present love ( _how could he have ever doubted her love?_ ), and say, voice breaking, “Shinichi. I have been yours from the moment you first called me by my name.”

_(He’s been pleading with all of Heaven and Hell that she will stay.)_

_(It seems that she been pleading to the same that he will not ask her to go.)_

_(The world’s full of ironies.)_

He smashes their lips together with the force of _forever_ behind the movement, and a hurt-pleasured whine comes from low in Shinichi’s throat as she presses back with the same fervor.

( _“Kaito, Kaito, Kaito,”_ she keeps murmuring against his lips, his name a prayer and sacrament when spoken with her inflections.

 _“Shinichi, Shinichi, Shinichi,”_ he whines helplessly as he breathes in the air she exhales and drags fingers through her now-mussed hair, the name spilling endlessly out of him with all the magic and love he has.

 _“Mine,”_ they say together.)

 

* * *

(Omakes contain some suggestive content)

Omake 1:

“How long did you know that I _didn’t_ know about the bond, anyway?” It’s a lot later that night, and they’re curled around each other with their feet hopelessly tangled. Neither of them want to move to find out whose is whose. A very Shinichi-like smirk spreads across her face, a sharp puff of air escaping her in amusement, and he pouts back at her, “What?”

“Since the night after Ran and Sonoko came,” she snickers out, pressing her face against his bare shoulder to muffle laughter. He makes a noise of confusion and feels her sigh against him, fondness infusing the sound. “You asked me what I told Sonoko in the end,” Shinichi reminds, nosing into his neck. “The words I used: **\--** ,  are literally all used in the binding spell. Even if you knew no Ancient besides the binding spell, you would still know what I said. Which is how I knew that for all you knew you’d been speaking nonsense when you casted the spell.”

“Oh.” A flush rises to his cheeks at that, and he hides in her hair so she hopefully doesn’t notice. “Speaking of- why didn’t you tell me what was happening when I was casting it? You were just yelling at me in Ancient. For all I would’ve thought at first that you were having me on- if you told me I was reciting an indentured-marriage-tude bind, I would’ve at least stopped out of embarrassment at even the idea.”

“Mm,” Shinichi acknowledges, reaching down to pinch a fleshy bit of skin on his hip, making him jolt and complain lowly, “that was your fault. I would never have dreamed that a Sorcerer of your skill that was at that exact moment casting a spell in Ancient couldn’t actually _understand_ it. And I’d only ever heard you speak Ancient until it’d already been completed. I _was_ trying to reason with you at least- in Ancient. Believe me: you would’ve known if I’d actually tried to _fight_ your spell.”

Kaito thinks of his textbook stating Griffins as class nine, of the fact that she had been able to defeat two class sixes and a class eight at once, of Hakuba saying that he’s currently about the same level as a class six (singular obviously), and swallows, nodding against her head. She laughs at him for that, voice dancing in merriment, and he retaliates by pressing his fingers down into the tickle spot between her shoulder blades. Her laugh chokes off at that, breaking into a moan that reverberates from deep in her chest, and she bites down hard on the junction between his neck and shoulder for that: not hard enough to break skin but certainly enough to bruise. He gasps at the flow of pleasure that runs up his spine at the feeling of her teeth applying pressure to his skin.

When she finally pulls back to lap at the abused skin, purring a little, he gasps, “That spot… is really sensitive for you, isn’t it?”

She mumbles an assent against his skin, then pulls back for only long enough to say, “That’s where my wings come out,” before diving back to lavish his neck with attention, breathing in his scent.

“Huh,” is all he manages, voice an octave too high, then gives up on conversation as he lets his hand trail down the curve of her back.

 

Omake 2:

“You know-” Shinichi brings up when they notice him stir the next morning. They’ve been thinking about this for a while now, but it kept being put out of their mind in favor of other things, and then they’d forget about it until the next handful of nights when Kaito was sleeping soundly again. They could never bring themself to wake him when he looked so comfortable asleep: pressing into them and instinctually breathing in their scent and by contact taking it into his own skin. “I think it would be best if I taught you the Ancient Tongue. You know, before you accidentally end up making another huge mistake.”

It seems almost instinctive- he doesn’t even open his eyes- as he grumbles, “You’re the greatest gift I could ever ask for- you’ll never be a mistake” at them, nuzzling deeper into their lap.

Their heart flutters and swoops and soars at that (they’ll never get used to his adorable cheesiness: Griffins are almost never this vocally expressive), but they let amused fondness make it’s way into their voice as they say, “The main point still stands. It also would be a good idea since I just _know_ that when you officially meet Ran, Heiji, and probably Shiho, they’ll be making snide comments at you in Ancient if they find out you don’t know it.” They watch as he slowly opens one eye, the light just barely blocked by his bone structure to protect it from being blinded, exposing that beautiful blue-purple color that they wear around their neck like a promise now- that they’ve come to love so much. He peers up at them groggily, then just closes the eye again sleepily, attempting to burrow back into sleep using their skin as a shield.

Their mouth quirks into a helpless smile at that: should they let him have another couple of minutes? He doesn’t have school today. Then both his eyes snap open at once to stare at them in shock, sitting up in one movement and nearly toppling them if not for the hand he quickly reaches around their waist to steady them. His hair, as it always is when he wakes up, is adorably about three times worse than a regular nest.

“What was that about?” They demand, a little cross. They like watching his slow way of waking up, okay? He only keeps staring at them as if they’ve just told him his own first name. Then he lets his face fall into their neck, laughing a touch hysterically, pressing his teeth lightly into their skin.

They shift slightly, torn between asking him to put a bit more effort into that bite or asking him what’s wrong, when he sniggers, “I’ve been waiting for Hakuba to come back for _seven months_ , determined to make him teach me Ancient the second he does, and this entire time I could’ve just asked you to teach me. _Man_ am I an idiot.”

Shinichi takes a second to process that, then feels their face fall into a kind of incredulous, amused look of horror as they protest, “ _Kaito, are you serious??_ ”

 

Omake 3:

It’s about a week later when Kaito finally broaches a subject he’d been wondering at the acceptability of for a while, Shinichi's head in _his_ lap for once. They’re curled up on the couch together again: him pretending to read a book while actually staring at it blankly, while she’s staring up at a different book she holds not inches from her face- probably one she’s already read at least ten times now, from the bored look on her face. He makes a mental note to himself to take her to the bookstore sometime and let her pick out all the books she can carry.

_(He really wants to do that now: now that he’s imagining the look that’ll probably be on her face.)_

“Hey, Shinichi,” he starts, trying to bury the tentative underlay to the words. She only hums in question, which tells him he most likely pulled off casual well enough. “You said a while ago that you prefer your male physical form over your female one.” She hums absently again, this time in assent. He wonders slightly nervously if she’s really as bored as she’d looked, and if he’s interrupting something. She flickers a glance at him when he apparently stays silent for too long, telling him she’s paying attention, and okay, well then.

“Why _do_ you prefer the male form over the female?” he asks out of curiosity, maybe-kind-of stalling.

“The breasts sometimes make it difficult to run,” she replies immediately.

“Oh,” he says, pointedly _not_ voicing the fact that he really likes her breasts (and how sensitive they are). “No other reason?”

“Not particularly.” She looks up at him again, interest piqued, and requests, “Ask what you originally meant to ask.” He winces a little: making a face. Of course she knows he's stalling.

“Do you think you could…” he trails off, slightly awkward. He sighs, rubs a hand through his hair, Shinichi staring up at him with her curious blue eyes, and asks, “I know the bonding spell is the reason you’re a female, but are you capable of overriding the fourth line somehow to take on a male form again? So you can at least switch back when you want to?” A furrow forms between her eyebrows, and she sets the open book down on her chest as she stares up at the ceiling to contemplate.

“I suppose,” Shinichi decides finally, her body rippling in an odd shrugging motion. “That spell was created long before your culture evolved so much. It’s quite probable that if I actually tried to look, I’d find a historical text where one of your rulers referred to a male as their wife, even if it was actually a spelling error or perhaps a demeaning title. That would be enough to call it a loophole and allow me the option to change my physical gender.”

“Would you… prefer to do that?” Kaito asks, then winces internally. He'd sounded as shifty as he felt- as he was trying _not_ to sound. Poker Face just does not work around Shinichi. Somewhere in his brain Kaito wonders if it's because it counts as a lie, or if he's just not able to hide things from her. Mentally, that is, considering he's such a horrific sap. Shinichi's eyes narrow in perplexed suspicion, and she sits up slowly to look him in the eyes directly, the tip of her nose brushing his own.

“You wouldn't be so awkward about this if you were just asking after my comfort preferences,” she points out, lips pursed. She's definitely not wrong about that. Is she ever wrong about anything? Her eyes widen suddenly, surprise conquering her face as she realizes, “You _want_ me to take on my male form.”  Kaito… can't deny it. She suddenly looks… confused, with hurt fluttering on the edge of her expression as she says, in a rather small voice, “I thought you _liked_ this form, though. Have you… not enjoyed yourself?”

Kaito would like to find the perfect spell to keep him from _putting his foot in his mouth_ in regards to Shinichi, thanks. Preferably one he can put into effect immediately, please.

“It's not that-” he rushes out hurriedly, words tumbling over themselves to stop Shinichi from wearing that wounded look on her face. “I just- I wanted- listen, I _love_ you no matter what form you take. I love this form,” he runs his fingers through the loose strands, letting them slip through his fingers, and Shinichi keeps staring at him. “I just- I just wanted a chance to- to officially meet your male form, okay? It's _never_ that I would prefer one of your forms over the other.” He cups her cheek, trying to convey the maximum honesty levels of his words.

“You wanted a chance to _love_ my male form,” she corrects his wording, knowing how the equivalency should've worked. Almost immediately her eyebrows fly up, mouth parting in a small “o”, then her eyes become distinctly more mischievous and satisfied, looking like a cat that got the cream that it knew for a fact it wasn't supposed to have. “You want to love and be loved by my male form- how do some of you mortals say- _biblically_ , no?” She drawls the question, watching in delight as red starts suffusing his face. “You want to be mated by me as you have mated me?”

Kaito squeaks, then the red flushes it's way down his neck, past the collar of his shirt. He hides his face in his hands.

“It's not just that-” he peeps, “not just- not just that! I want- it's _you_ , and I want to-!”

Shinichi apparently takes pity on him because she lightly kisses the backs of his knuckles, and he cuts off his incoherent ramblings to peer through the cracks between his fingers to see her face. It's loving, fond, and caring, like it always is, and half of his nerves fall away at the sight of her projected emotions. She takes one of his hands, tugging it towards her gently (because she's always gentle with him), and maintains eye-contact and the soft expression as she presses a kiss to the center of his palm. Then she leans forward to kiss his cheek, his forehead, his nose, the corners of his eyes: all tender touches of her lips against his face. His eyes flutter closed when he feels her palm cup his cheek, warm, and he leans into it as she strokes his cheekbone with her thumb. He peeks through his lashes at her and sees how unspeakably adoring she looks, sees her lean in and press a chaste kiss to his lips. He licks her lips when they meet but she pulls back with a laugh, moving away, and Kaito pouts as he's reminded of their first kiss.

“Darling,” she says, almost amused. “I'm going to go get access to my male form now. I shouldn't be very long- maybe a day? But you may have to eat out for the next couple of meals. We can talk about what you want to do next when I get back, alright? No rush.” He stares stupidly after her as she goes upstairs, and has barely managed to regain control of higher brain function when she comes back downstairs wearing a tank top that exposes her shoulder blades, a sun hat, sunglasses, sandals, and a loose skirt.

Her skirt swirls around her ankles as she sweeps over to him, kisses him again, then tilts her sunglasses down to look at him with a smile, reassuring, “Be back soon, love,” before she leaves the house.

(Almost exactly 23 hours later, Kaito's front door opens and a familiar male's voice calls, almost tentatively, _“Kaito?”_

 _“Welcome home, Shinichi,”_ he greets with a smile, looking around the wall separating the kitchen and the livingroom to see the familiar form in that three piece suit combo Kaito remembers all too well. He's holding a bundle of feminine clothing under his arm.

Shinichi grins, loosens his tie, then his eyes narrow suspiciously as he warns, _“You'd better only be heating up raviolis in there.”_

 _'Yes,’_ Kaito thinks, staring as the other male tugs off his white suit jacket. _'Yes, Shinichi can have me whatever way they please.’_ )

 

* * *

Trivia:

  1. If you’re confused about why Shinichi was worried that Kaito would tell her to leave, I recommend rereading the translated bind. You’ll notice that (it’s pretty shitty) it really only binds Shinichi to Kaito, but since he’s “The Master” he could’ve told her to get lost if he really wanted. There’s also the fact that mortals don’t really have a good-marriage track record, so she was a little worried he’d get bored of her or something.
  2. Aoko was avoiding meeting Shinichi, if it wasn’t obvious. At first all she knew was that Shinichi was a demon, and then after meeting Shinichi it might’ve been okay but the Akako incident freaked her out. When she finds out Shinichi's a Griffin and that they’re definitely not always terrifying like they were to Akako all the time, she’s a lot more open to becoming friends.
  3. The old professor did in fact run into Shinichi, which is exactly what freaked him out. Griffins very rarely come over to the mortal plane, after all.
  4. Kaito’s mentioned multiple times to be pretty powerful, which is technically true. Currently, with untrained/undeveloped talent, as Hakuba said he’s about class six. With training, age, control, though, he has a max potential of about class nine (which if you haven’t noticed is pretty freaking powerful). A max potential of class six or seven is most common for magic users, for reference.
  5. Shinichi has a personal treasure horde on the magical plane which is where she got the money to pay for that first grocery trip. In case you thought she just stole from the grocery store that time or something.
  6. In exchange for removing Snake’s magic, Gin wanted 75% of Shinichi’s primaries and two talons. All of which had to be forcibly removed. He’s kind of a dick like that.
  7. Half the reason Ran reacted so volatility was because of the similarities between the demon bride bind and the animal bride legend. Animal brides are basically what Swan Maidens (and Selkies) are known for, so it hit close to home for her.
  8. Both cats and eagles eat fish, so it shouldn’t be surprising that Shinichi’s diet really does consist of mainly fish that they eat while Kaito’s not home- or awake at least. It’s too bad he’s so scared of fish- Shinichi could make some mean sushi.
  9. Demons are definitely the ones that most often get rude when they see the bind on Shinichi. One time she ran into one in a shopping center on her way to get a chocolate cake for Kaito and it made some very unwise comments, similar to those of Akako and Snake. Unfortunately for the demon, Kaito was not there at the time. And so it left the area with many broken bones, including but not limited to an arm, leg, nose, and multiple ribs. Demons learned to keep most of the comments to themselves after that.
  10. Magical beings class seven and higher can use magic spells as Sorcerers do, but only weak spells like minor healing spells, barriers, fireballs, and the like.
  11. Shinichi/Griffins in general don’t care what pronouns they’re referred to as. Though they usually prefer gender-neutral in their own forms and either gender-neutral or the pronouns matching the gender they take otherwise, anything but “it” and the like is fine.
  12. Ironically, Yamamura is _not_ that good at lying. He just has a very over-blown sense of self-confidence.
  13. Summoning is a branch of magic you can study- it's not that being a summoner is it's own class. Sorcerers, Wizards, and Warlocks are able to summon, but they all have different methods.




End file.
